Flames of Duty
by TheSmilingMask
Summary: The cycle of rebirth unites many worlds. There is always life after death. Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto has always honored his role as Captain-Commander until the end but, with his death, a door has been opened for a life. His old life. The life of one Uzumaki Naruto. The flames of destruction are back and will take the Elemental Nations by storm! OP!Naruto Yamamoto!Naruto ENJOY!
1. Rebirth

As the upper part of his body, severed from the rest, fell to the ground, a single thought crossed his mind.

_I'm not dead yet..._

He was losing a lot of blood, he was sure. It was a miracle that he was still conscious at that point, but he couldn't and didn't want to give up. He had a duty to fulfill. His vision was blurred and he didn't even feel anything anymore, but it didn't matter. Because _he_ was still alive.

"You're a fool." that calm and cold voice. He would remember it forever "Time has made you weak, that's why I never considered you as one of the war potentials. A thousand years ago you would have been at the top of the list, but by now you are just a shell of yourself."

_I'm not dead yet..._

His right arm moved with an unthinkable speed for someone reduced like him, but he still managed to grab his opponent's ankle, slowly starting to crush it with all the strength he had left. He didn't even notice the moment when his arm was cut cleanly at the elbow, making him completely limbless.

He could still hear that voice, his enemy was in front of him, yet he could do nothing about it. After a few seconds, he saw a blue glow grow larger and more intense. Even in the state in which he was reduced, he could see that it was an attack. A very powerful attack against him.

_Is this my limit then?_ When the attack was close to destroying him, he finally closed his eyes, accepting the cold embrace of death. Oh the irony...

With a violent explosion, no trace of him remained.

Only a broken and scorched sword was left as evidence of his loss.

**§ - § - § - § - §**

**FLAMES OF DUTY**

**Chapter One: Rebirth**

**§ - § - § - § - §**

"You can open your eyes now."

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, former Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, suddenly opened his eyes, surprised by the voice he had just heard. Looking around, he realized he was inside an oriental-style room, with a polished wooden table in front of him and only a large parchment hanging on the wall to his left, above which was the kanji for 'Order'.

"You look disoriented, but I think it's normal after all that's happened to you." said the other occupant of the room, currently sitting on the other side of the table, intent on pouring tea into two cups "However, I can tell you that after a few minutes, the feeling of nausea you may experience will disappear."

Yamamoto shifted his gaze to the man who had just spoken and his eyes widened in surprise "Ichibē Hyōsube! W-What happened?!"

Ichibē would have found it interesting to see the infamous Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 behave that way, however he had a mission to accomplish and little time was available, so he passed a cup full of tea to Yamamoto "Yhwach has happened. You fought him, or you fought against a Quincy that you thought was him. But when the real one appeared, he managed to defeat you and kill you in no time. This is what the Soul King told me."

Yamamoto seemed surprised and distressed by the discovery but managed to conceal his emotions by looking down, being surprised again to see that he had both arms now. Raising his left arm, he tried to move it and felt nothing strange, as if he had never lost it in the battle against Aizen.

"How...?"

"The Soul King, together with the intervention of the Zero Division, has succeeded in recreating your body and preserving your spirit." explained Ichibē while sipping his cup of tea "Your death occurred recently, yesterday to be precise, so it was relatively easy."

"Why did the Soul King do it? He wants me to face Yhwach again?" asked Yamamoto recovering the calmness for which he was known. If the answer to his question had been affirmative, he wouldn't have hesitated for a moment to face him again, because that was the Soul King's will and he would not disappoint him.

However, it seemed that his idea was wrong as Ichibē shook his head "Far from it. You are dead, Genryūsai. The Soul King has already made an exception to the rule to get you back, but not to face Yhwach again, but to solve another problem. A problem that could be as serious as our war against the Quincys."

"Another problem? What problem could rival the current crisis?"

"Tell me, what do you know about the circle of souls?" asked Ichibē in turn.

"That the Soul King is the one who regulates the flow of souls in the Soul Society. If he were not there, then our world, as well as the Hueco Mundo, the Human World and others would be ruined."

Ichibē nodded "That's true, but what you don't know, is that the Soul King also manages other worlds than those known. In truth, he is not even the only existing Soul King. From what he told me, there are many others like him who reign on other worlds." Yamamoto looked at him with surprised eyes "From what I know, a world with few souls, is managed by a Soul King, but once that world develops and souls increase, a new Soul King is assigned to that world, so as not to compromise the flow of souls among all the worlds. In these 'primitive' worlds a Shinigami or something similar is then assigned, so that all the creatures that pass through can find their way to the circle of souls. Obviously every Shinigami can be different or change over time, obtaining powers, reputation and appearance different from those like us."

"The fact that you're telling me all this...is it related to the job for which I was brought back to life?" asked Yamamoto now with calm eyes.

"Yes, that's the case. You must know that the Shinigami of this world is being...controlled by humans and can no longer perform its duty, at least not completely." said Ichibē surprising the former Captain-Commander "In very simple words, they are using that Shinigami to bring the dead back to life, including souls."

Now Yamamoto was not only surprised, but also slightly worried "That shouldn't be possible. Bringing the dead back to life is not such an amazing thing, even I can do it in a sense, but also control the souls..."

"It goes against all the rules of the cycle of rebirth." nodded Ichibē "A soul that has already been reborn can no longer be controlled in any way, yet these humans have managed to get around the problem. From what I learned, they are creating something like copies when they bring someone back to life. This is a threat to the entire circle of rebirth, especially if this technique were to be passed on for years to come."

Yamamoto narrowed his eyes slightly before nodding "A soul takes time before being reborn. If humans had to go ahead with this system, no soul would leave that world anymore."

"Yes, that's problem. Fortunately, it seems that not all humans are allies, so those unrelated to this system live and die without any interference, thus allowing the Shinigami of that world to take their souls." Ichibē was silent for a few seconds "And that's why you've been brought back to life. To solve this problem, a problem born in your original world."

The old Shinigami looked at Ichibē with incredulous eyes "My...original world?"

The Commander of the Royal Guard nodded "Well, to say the true 'original world' sounds bad and is incorrect. Previous world is more correct. As Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, you were born here in the Soul Society, so this is your world right now, but before you became what you are now, you were another person. A young human named Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki...Naruto...?" the name did not ring any bell in his head.

"If you don't remember anything it is more than normal. Whenever a soul goes through the rebirth cycle, the memories of the previous life are erased." explained Ichibē before picking up the huge brush at his side "But with me, this problem can be solved!" and, in a matter of seconds, he wrote two simple words on Yamamoto's right breastplate: Uzumaki Naruto.

Yamamoto was about to ask him what sense it was to write a name on his haori but suddenly his mind was bombarded with images and memories of a past life. A life that belonged to Uzumaki Naruto.

_He was at the base of a huge waterfall, the view was blurred and yet he was not tired._

_On the other side of the waterfall was a dark-haired boy with two huge hands-shaped wings._

_A stab of pain hit him, paralyzing his body, before his vision was flooded with red._

_When he was able to see again, he was standing on that boy's body. His body had been horribly brutalized and it was clear that he would never get up again. That black-haired boy was dead._

_A new stab of pain hit him, this time at the base of the neck and everything turned black._

_Next thing, he was kneeling on a stage in the center of a large square, surrounded by people who were screaming at him._

_A blonde woman appeared in his field of vision "Uzumaki Naruto! For the murder of Uchiha Sasuke, you are condemned to death!"_

_He tried to break free but what seemed like wood kept him still._

_Next to the woman, a white-haired man appeared holding a strange sword made of rock._

_The newcomer walked up to stop in front of him, raising the sword above his head._

"_For what it's worth...I'm sorry, gaki..."_

_The blade of the sword fell downward._

_Everything turned black for the last time._

"W-What..." Yamamoto placed a hand on the table, while the other was on his face "What was that...?"

"That was your past life." said Ichibē with a calm voice "To give a new name to someone, I should use my Shikai and then my Bankai, but to give back an old name I can simply use my brush. What you just saw were the memories of Uzumaki Naruto, the one you were before you became Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto."

"I...I was killed by...by...Ero-sennin..." it was so strange to repeat that nickname and yet, it seemed normal to him "I killed Sasuke...my own teammate...?"

"Yes, you killed him." Ichibē nodded without trying to deny it "You used the power of the demon that was sealed within you, losing control to the point of killing him."

Yamamoto looked down at his own hands "I seem to see myself a thousand years ago...always a demon, no matter what."

"Actually there would be something to add to what you saw. Something you never could have known." the bald monk scratched his beard before saying "You were betrayed."

"...uh?" Yamamoto blinked once, twice "What...?"

"Well...maybe 'betrayed' is too strong a word. What I mean is that you have been used, or sacrificed if you prefer."

"What are you talking about, Hyōsube? I killed Uchiha Sasuke, therefore I was executed for that."

"Yes, that's true, but that was just a part of a much larger plan devised by someone who should have been dead." Ichibē looked at Yamamoto straight in the eyes "Your own father, Namikaze Minato, has planned everything, including your death."

The former Captain-Commander looked at him in silence, wondering if he was joking, but when he saw no sign of deception on the other man's face, he asked "How...?"

Such a short and generic question could have required more answers, but Ichibē was prepared thanks to the intervention of the Soul King and so he explained to Yamamoto what he knew.

"The night of your birth, as you well know, the Kyuubi was released. What you don't know is that, up until the time of its escape, the fox had been sealed inside your mother's body, Uzumaki Kushina. When your father decided to seal the demon inside you, he used a new and experimental technique, summoning the Shinigami of that world, whose powers were above the fox albeit barely.

"Thanks to this technique, he separated the fox's chakra into two parts. He sealed one inside himself and the other inside of you, using two different seals. That of the Shinigami for you, and a new one of his invention for him. The use of a technique where the Shinigami was evoked, would have required the soul of Minato as payment, but one of his trusty ninja completed the technique in his place, offering his soul instead of your father's. Your mother died soon after due to the extraction of the fox from her body, while your father ended up in a deep coma because of the fox. Normally only an Uzumaki would have been able to contain the demon, but your father had created a reliable seal and besides he had only half the power of the fox, therefore he could survive.

"The man you called 'Ero-sennin' took Minato with him to the realm of toads, where Minato was in a coma for over a year. Upon awakening, Minato learned of what happened after sealing the Kyuubi and started working tirelessly to control its chakra but above all to be able to bring his wife back to life. It took him two years, but in the end he managed to create a technique that would bring people back to life but not as puppets, but as real people. However he ran into a big problem."

Ichibē pointed at Yamamoto, who was staring at him with shocked eyes upon learning that his father was still alive while he was living in an orphanage, being treated as a stranger by all.

"His new jutsu would allow him to use the Shinigami to his liking to control souls so that the people brought back to life were perfect, but your seal created a disturbance in the use of the technique, and a seal created with the powers of the Shinigami could not be easily broken. After another year of studying and experimenting with his seals, he managed to create a safe area to summon his wife without interfering with your seal.

"Together with her, they managed to perfect his seals and his technique, but you were still a problem. Both were not excited at the idea of resorting to extreme methods but, for the happiness of many, they decided to remove your seal in the only possible way..."

"By killing me..." whispered Yamamoto managing to maintain a composed posture.

"Yes. They explained their plan to many people, including the Sandaime Hokage, Jiraiya and Tsunade, names you know well." said Ichibē with a calm voice "So, they started planning a way to kill you but none of them had the courage to take your life directly, for no reason at all. In a macabre sense of humor, they really loved you. For years, they couldn't find a way to complete their plan until you killed Uchiha Sasuke while you were using the power of the fox.

"What you don't know...is that your father was there that day, and it was he who used a technique to force you to use a huge amount of the fox's chakra. Their idea was to kill you while you were completely out of control, so as to have less regrets, however your willpower was stronger than expected and so you managed to regain control and return to normal. I guess you know the rest."

Yamamoto nodded slowly, still intent on accepting what he had just discovered "Using Sasuke's murder as an excuse, they sentenced me to death..."

"Correct, mainly because all Konoha would have clamored for your death." Ichibē scratched the back of his head "So they have decapitated you before burning of your whole body, so no one could bring you back to life and half of the Kyuubi inside you died that day, or that's what they think."

With confused eyes, Yamamoto looked at the monk "What do you mean?"

"The Kyuubi, or Kurama since that's his real name, has always remained by your side. Just...in a different form." said Ichibē with a huge grin.

Yamamoto remained silent trying to understand but suddenly his eyes widened in shock. He looked at his Zanpakutō which was resting at his side "Ryūjin Jakka..." and, ignoring Ichibē's pleased look, he took it in his hand and slowly closed his eyes.

* * *

**[Ryūjin Jakka's Inner World]**

Yamamoto reopened his eyes standing on top of a column of solidified lava while all around him, the flames devoured everything from the ground sky. After a few seconds of apparent calm, a powerful laugh echoed through the flames which, in front of Yamamoto, began to change shape.

"**It's been a long time, kit. Over a thousand years if I remember correctly.**"

Despite all his past years where he had always controlled his emotions well, Yamamoto could not suppress a smile that formed on his lips "Kyuubi..."

"**Welcome back, Naruto...or do you prefer to be called by your new name?**" asked the huge fox head made of flames.

"As you prefer, even if I could ask you the same question."

"**Right now, I've been your ****Zanpakutō**** for years so as long as you'll be ****Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto****, I'll be ****Ryūjin Jakka****.**" said his long time partner with a toothy grin.

"Very well." Yamamoto nodded at the fox's head.

"**Now, it would be better if you went back to talking to that monk. I think he still has to get to the interesting part!**"

With a little grin on his lips, Yamamoto could not but agree with him and so he left that world.

* * *

**[Ichibē Hyōsube's Place]**

"Sorry for the interruption." said Yamamoto with a bow.

Ichibē waved him off "Don't worry, it's fine. Now it's time to tell you why you've been brought back to life."

"I think I know, I have to stop my father...even if I have to ask...I've lived so long. How can he still be alive?" questioned Yamamoto with a raised eyebrow.

"Time flows in a very different way in the ''primitive' worlds, so as to give the Soul King time to get used to having it under his domain." explained Ichibē with a nod "But back at your job...yes, you need to stop your own father and I'm sorry to say this, but you'll have to kill him. His behavior is a clear insult to everything we protect and respect."

Yamamoto closed his eyes for a moment. The Soul King wanted him to kill his father but that choice would not be a problem for him. True, he now had memories of his past life, but as Uzumaki Naruto he had never had any connection with him, so he would have had no trouble killing him, especially since it was his duty as a Shinigami of the Gotei 13. Looking back at Ichibē, he nodded firmly "I'm ready."

The monk nodded before standing up, then stepped out of the small building with Yamamoto behind him "There are some things you need to know. Once you have crossed a special Senkaimon, you will be given a new body. A body made of flesh and bone. You will keep your Shinigami powers but you will also have your old chakra, with all the related abilities you acquired when you were still Uzumaki Naruto. Furthermore, when you have finished your task, you can continue to live in that world as you wish. This is the Soul King's reward for all your years of loyalty."

Yamamoto seemed surprised by this news but nodded anyway before walking towards the portal that would take him to his old world, but when he was a few steps away from it, the monk called him "Your father is not the only one you have to stop. Each person who has been brought back to life...those are fake souls and cannot be ignored. You will have to eliminate every single person brought back to life."

"I understand."

"Genryūsai." Yamamoto looked back at Ichibē "Those people, although they are fake souls, are happy and the same goes for their loved ones who have had the opportunity to see them again. Once you start your task, you will become a monster in their eyes."

Moments of silence followed his words but in the end Yamamoto nodded "I know, but even if I go back to using my old name, I'm Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, and my loyalty to the Soul Society comes first." and with those words, he walked into the Senkaimon, disappearing into the white light.

When the portal closed, the monk smiled "I hope you can find a new purpose in the new life that was given to you." before walking away with a smirk "Now, for the other one..."

* * *

**[Land of Whirpools]**

Coming out of Senkaimon, Yamamoto immediately realized that something had changed. He felt much stronger than before, and above all younger. Looking down, he noticed that he was still wearing his Shinigami robes but could see the difference in his body. Now he was a human, no longer a soul. Walking towards a small body of water, he looked at his own reflection and what he saw surprised him.

His new body was practically an aged version of the old one, when he was still Uzumaki Naruto. Now he was probably around the age of twenty and his body was muscular and tempered like Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's, with the same scar on his forehead, mostly covered by his blond hair that was longer than last time.

'_**Now kit, since we're in this world...should we start using our old names?**_'

After long and intense minutes of silence, Yamamoto...no, Naruto showed a grin that would make any Hollow run for its life.

"I'd say it's a great idea, Kurama. Konoha has always praised about its Will of Fire...now it's time for those same flames to be their condemnation!" and with a Shumpo worthy of a master, he vanished into thin air, headed for the continent.

Naruto Uzumaki had returned, and his flames were ready to judge anyone who dared to face him!

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

* * *

**Yeah, another story! I was bored, the idea inspired me so I wrote it in one breath! I hope you can enjoy it!**

**Obviously the Naruto of this fic will be OP af but, unlike many fic where Naruto is reincarnated after being killed, many things will be different! I hope you will follow this story and see you at the next chapter!**

**I OWN NOTHING!**


	2. Eight Years

Appearing from nowhere, Naruto looked around with calm eyes. Judging by the huge trees he saw in the surroundings, he was certainly in the Land of Fire. At least he hadn't gone in the wrong direction.

'_Now...how should i act?_' thought Naruto before heading north, where he could sense a large number of people '_If I just go to Konoha and then kill everyone, it could be a problem. I don't think they can defeat me, but they managed to enslave the Shinigami of this world, so they might have some tricks up their sleeve that I still don't know._'

'_**There is also the problem of knowing how to recognize people who have been brought back to life. It is not certain that their souls are different in appearance.**_' said Kurama with his deep voice, the same he had when we was still a Bijuu '_**I would suggest taking a brief inspection tour to get an idea of what we have to face.**_'

'_Good idea, but first..._' concentrating, Naruto used his chakra for the first time and within seconds he was engulfed in an explosion of white smoke. Once dissipated, an old man with a long gray beard was in his place.

'_**Are you going to use your appearance as **__**Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto**__**?**_'

'_Yes, I'm a new face to them. If I were to present myself with my true appearance, the end of the world would be unleashed. Also with you still hidden in my walking stick, it is better to use my old appearance._' explained Naruto while walking like an old man, his eyes almost completely closed.

'_**Can't argue with that.**_' nodded Kurama before adding '_**Also, kit...**_'

'_Yes, we've company._'

From the trees around him suddenly appeared several men dressed in dark clothes, but all different from each other. With a quick glance, Naruto understood that they were a group of missing nin, since all of them had a headband with a line engraved above the symbol of their former village. Instinctively, his mind reminded him of two missing nin in particular, who had died years before during his first real mission as a ninja of Konoha.

'_I wonder where the circle of rebirth brought them..._'

"Hey, old man!" said one of the missing nin, taking a step forward "This area belongs to us! If you want to pass you have to pay a fee!"

While the other men laughed as if they had just heard something funny, Naruto could only sigh "Yare yare...today's children are truly disrespectful." some of the ninja growled for comment but then Naruto slowly opened one eye "I think a punishment is a must."

None of them understood what had happened, but in a single instant, they all found themselves on their knees, crushed by a monstrous pressure. Most of them also had tears in their eyes, foam coming out of their mouths and a dark patch between their trousers, however Naruto ignored them all, concentrating only on the man who had spoken, who was watching him with eyes full of terror.

"My task has no time limit." said Naruto with his usual calm voice "However, I don't have the patience to teach infants like you how to breathe."

The missing nin in front of him felt bile go up his throat. How was it possible? The man in front of him had done nothing, yet he had reduced them to that state! He was once a ninja from Kumo, he had felt the negative aura of the Hachibi, yet it was nothing compared to what he is feeling now!

"However, before you faint, tell me...in what direction is Konoha?" asked Naruto leaning forward slowly.

The former ninja of Kumo barely managed to move a trembling arm, pointing behind his own shoulder.

"Thank you." and with that Naruto lifted his spiritual pressure, letting all the ninjas faint around him.

'_**You haven't lost your touch I see.**_'

'_It is now a part of me, and I still have to understand how many years have passed since my death. If I'm right, now I have thousands of years of experience over them._'

A loud laugh echoed in his mind '_**It will be the first and only time I will say this, but right now I would like Uchiha Madara to be still alive just to see you reduce him to ashes!**_'

Continuing to walk with his eyes seemingly closed, Naruto grinned '_I'll take that as a compliment._'

**§ - § - § - § - §**

**FLAMES OF DUTY**

**Chapter Two: Eight Years**

**§ - § - § - § - §**

'_Well, it seems that Konoha has grown a lot._' thought Naruto while staring at the second ring of walls of the shinobi village. Apparently, during his years of absence, Konoha had also expanded geographically and now occupied much more space than before, so much that outside the original walls they had built other houses and then another circle of walls. He could still see the Hokage Mountain, which now consisted of five heads, but was definitely farther away.

Ignoring Kyuubi's comment that the former Hokages had built a large village to compensate with something else, Naruto started toward the big gate in front of him, and after a few minutes, he saw two familiar faces to him.

'_Those two...?_' Naruto wondered looking at Kotetsu and Izumo, both near the entrance '_I have the impression that not much time has passed since my death...that, or these two haven't yet risen in rank._'

"Halt! State your business!" said Kotetsu raising one hand to stop Naruto.

Sighing to himself, Naruto approached them with the speed of an elder "I'd like to come in and spend a couple of days in Konoha. Many years have passed since I last stayed here and I would like to see what has changed."

Izumo smiled at him "Well then you will surely be surprised! Konoha has made enormous progress in recent years!"

"I can see that. Last time I was here, there were only three faces on that mountain." lied Naruto but he had to give the impression of being very old, in order to avoid problems.

"You've been here a few years ago! We weren't even in service at the time!" noted Kotetsu with surprised eyes.

'_**Even if they had been on duty, they would still be guarding this gate...**_' Naruto could only agree with the fox.

After a few minutes, he was given a temporary pass and so Naruto could finally enter Konoha after years of absence. The first things he saw didn't impress him as much, after all he was still in the part called 'New Konoha', but compared to the beauty of the Soul Society, his old village was definitely not impressive. However, as he walked along the streets so full of life, he noticed how the population had increased a lot.

'_Do you think these people were brought back to life?_'

'_**Hard to say. Even with our abilities, I can't tell if these people have always been alive or not...**_' said Kurama but, after a moment, he growled '_**No, now I'm sure of it, we can't recognize them...**_'

'_How did you get it?_'

'_**Uchiha...**_'

Surprised by that word, Naruto looked around and, not far away, saw a small family of three, all with dark eyes and hair '_Are those...?_'

'_**Yes, they are Uchiha, I can feel it...and last time I checked, your teammate's older brother had exterminated the entire clan.**_' growled Kurama, wishing to tear them apart. Despite all the years spent as Ryūjin Jakka, his hatred of that clan had not yet vanished.

'_Which means that my father brought the whole clan back to life, probably Sasuke too._'

'_**Great! Just great! Now we have the whole clan to kill! Not that I'm complaining, but they are definitely a pain in the ass! Next thing you will tell me that also the Senju are back!**_'

"Ah Senju-san, welcome back!" said a shopkeeper next to them, welcoming two people who had the Senju clan symbol on their clothes.

'_…_'

'_**...damn my big mouth...**_'

'_It seems like it will be a long job if we want to do it properly._' thought Naruto with a sigh before walking toward the original walls. He had to see his old village, the real one, to understand how much it had really changed. Once he arrived at the gate, he only had to show his pass in order to enter and, finally, he was able to see the place where he had grown up when he was still known as Uzumaki Naruto.

'_It's almost time for lunch, I might as well go eat._' thought Naruto before walking toward his once favorite ramen stand which, much to his surprise, had expanded his business and was now a huge restaurant. The aroma in the air was unmistakable, so he entered through the front door, making a little bell ring, attracting the attention of a maid.

The young woman approached him with a smile "Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! Do you want a table or you wish to order to take away?"

'_So they hired staff. I wonder if Ayame still works here._' thought Naruto before nodding at her "A table for one, thank you."

"Of course! This way please!" after taking a menu, the waitress accompanied him to a small table before giving him time to decide what to order.

After sitting down, Naruto glanced around and noted with pleasure that the restaurant was full of customers. Despite his mission and the discovery that his previous life had simply been a lie for an ultimate purpose, Naruto had no grudge against that small family that had fed him, many times for free, for most of his life. However, at a table nearby, Naruto saw something that surprised him and, for the first time, he felt a small note of regret at having to do his duty.

Currently sitting at a table for four, there was one Umino Iruka, his old teacher at the academy, and he was not alone. Sitting by his side was a purple-haired woman whom Naruto recognized as Mitarashi Anko, the kunoichi he had seen during the Chūnin Exams, while in front of them there were two older people than them, and the man looked a lot like Iruka.

'_They must be his parents. As far as I can remember, they died the night you were released from my mother._'

'_**Your father certainly didn't hold back...if what I see is true, there will be hundreds of people to kill before it's all over.**_' said Kurama before adding '_**However I think that first we should talk to the Shinigami of this world, maybe we could prevent it from being summoned.**_'

'_Possible, but first it will be better to look around. From what I see Iruka has not aged much. The only way I can be certain is to meet someone from my old class._' and so, after ordering several bowls of ramen and paying them with the money he had stolen from the missing nin, Naruto left the restaurant, heading for the academy.

Looking around, Naruto noticed how the shinobi were more numerous in this part of the village but he didn't care too much, preferring to keep his eyes set for any familiar faces, which happened a few minutes later when he saw a trio of ninja walking in the opposite direction to his, all three with green vests on top of their clothes.

'_Well, it looks like they all became Chūnin, even if the lazy one has Jonin's vest...his intelligence must have helped him a lot._' thought Naruto looking at Team Ten as they walked while talking among each other. A brief flash of his past brought him back to that stage where he had been executed and, in the crowd in front of him, he saw the faces of Shikamaru and Ino intent on observing him with a mixture of emotions on their faces.

Shaking his head, Naruto kept walking until he was in front of the academy but saw no one noteworthy, the students were still in classrooms '_Judging by the appearance of the others, I would say that about ten years have passed since I died. Konohamaru and the others are probably no longer students._'

'_**We can't just walk around and hope to discover something. I would advise you to go to the library, the history texts should be accessible to everyone.**_'

Naruto nodded, he had already considered the idea of relying on written texts, but he still wanted to look around before resorting to that solution. Closing his eyes to concentrate, and making sure no one was following him, Naruto vanished with his Shumpo, appearing moments later in an alley near the library.

Going out into the street like a normal person, he entered the big building stopping in front of the main counter, where a ninja greeted him "Good afternoon, may I help you?"

"Yes, could you point me towards the section with historical texts? I would like to consult some books about the latest events here in Konoha." asked Naruto still pretending to be a frail old man and not at all dangerous.

"But of course, please follow me." the ninja walked behind the counter before going between two huge shelves, pointing to a series of books "These texts cover the entire history of Konoha from its foundation to the present, but for what you have requested, these two will suffice." he picked up two books, one with the Konoha symbol on the cover and the other with the symbol of the Land of Fire "The first covers all events from the return of the Yondaime Hokage to the present, many of his miracles are also indicated, while the other covers the same historical period but is not limited only to Konoha, but to the entire Land of Fire, they are still events that are born of the actions of our ninja."

Naruto thanked him before taking the two books and going to sit at an empty table. Opening the first book, he began to read it for a few hours, before moving on to the second, skipping several chapters that he was not interested in. In the end, the sun was almost set and Naruto rubbed his eyes, trying to ignore the headache that was coming.

'_This is going to be a long task._'

'_**You can say that, kit...the list of targets is longer than expected.**_'

Apparently, the day after his death, Namikaze Minato and his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, had returned from the 'grave'. The Yondaime had been welcomed as a hero by the population and had resumed his duties as Hokage, leaving Tsunade to run the hospital. In the days to come, Minato had explained that he had to remain hidden in order to regain his strength and to learn to control his new power, the Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto was particularly upset to find that his father, despite being a Jinchuuriki like him, was treated like a god.

The surprises didn't end there because even the Sandaime Hokage had returned from the grave, shocking everyone (or at least all those who didn't know of the plan of Minato) explaining that he had only staged his death against Orochimaru so that he could better recover his strength. The shock was only increased when the old leader returned as young as when he first became Hokage, again thanks to Minato. Both Naruto and Kurama had speculated that, with some special seal, Minato had discovered some ways to make people rejuvenate, and that the Sandaime had not actually summoned the Shinigami in his fight with Orochimaru but had used some trick provided by Minato.

The surprises for Konoha, and for all their allies and enemies, were not yet over because Minato had revealed, during an important speech, that he could bring the dead back to life, having managed to control the Shinigami and his powers. After a public demonstration, Minato had achieved the status of messiah in the eyes of Konoha. The following months had been a succession of building new homes and resurrecting people or making them rejuvenate.

The entire Uzumaki clan, as well as the Uchiha clan and the Senju clan had been revived, including the first two Hokage and Uzumaki Mito. From what Naruto had discovered, there had been disagreements between Minato and some groups of people brought back to life but, after seeing the pros and cons of his actions, the Yondaime had been forgiven by receiving Senju Hashirama's blessing. On a side note, Uchiha Itachi had returned to Konoha after being forgiven of his crime and was now the current head of the Uchiha clan.

The rest of the chapters were a succession of the legendary exploits of Minato, including bringing Orochimaru back to their side, stopping a legendary demon in the Land of Demons and making the Nadeshiko Village their ally; some marriages to solidify the alliance with allied villages and things like that. Not even a negative note on all those pages. Naruto had imagined that it was a civilian who wrote those books.

'_We've basically three whole clans, my father and all the other people he brought back to life._'

'_**I was thinking, what do we do about the new generation? From what we have discovered, eight years have passed since you died and during that time, the people brought back to life have also had the opportunity to procreate.**_' said Kurama pointing to one of the main problems with their task.

'_We leave them alone. Even if they were born of people with fake souls, they are living beings born thanks to the circle of souls. Killing them would be just an injustice._' replied Naruto without missing a beat '_Now we know what happened during my absence and how many targets we have. We just have to contact the Shinigami of this world and see if we can do something to prevent him from being summoned, so as to solve the problem at the source._'

'_**I guess we have no other choice. How are you going to contact him?**_'

'_I don't know. It is possible that the technique to evoke him is preserved in the Scroll of Seals, but trying to break into the Hokage Tower to get it would attract too much attention, I also imagine that, after the theft on my part eight years ago, they reinforced security._' thought Naruto before using his Shumpo to disappear once he made sure he was alone in the alley next to the library.

Much to Kurama's confusion, Naruto reappeared in the middle of a clearing near of some trees with a path nearby. In front of him, a few feet away, there were two objects. The first was a kind of monument in the shape of a kunai, completely black, on which names were engraved. Kurama knew that it was the Memorial Stone, but it was the second object that caught his attention: a half-body statue made of white marble depicting Naruto.

'_Apparently my father commissioned this monument to remind everyone that I was a hero for keeping you at bay for twelve years, since my birth._' said Naruto walking toward the monument before staring at it and the flowers at the base for a long moment '_Looks like someone brought flowers recently._'

Kurama wanted to try to distract him from the thoughts that were going through his mind, but the sound of steps caught their attention and, turning around, Naruto had to control himself to avoid showing the emotions on his face.

"Good evening, I've never seen you around here." said Uzumaki Kushina with a smile and a bouquet of orange flowers in hand "Are you here to remember someone who is no longer there?"

"You...can say that..." nodded Naruto after a moment before turning again to look at the monument.

Kushina joined him before depositing the flowers under his statue "You know...he was my son...yet I have never been by his side except for a few minutes."

Naruto watched her for a moment '_Why is she telling me this?_' before saying "This is nothing new. Many mothers lose their lives during childbirth, others lose their children."

The woman nodded with a bitter smile "Yes, I know...unfortunately we didn't have this luck, neither he nor I." she looked at the old man at her side "I am one of the many people brought back to life by Minato, yet I never managed to hold my child in my arms."

Naruto raised an eyebrow slightly "So why not bring him back to life?"

Kushina chuckled, but Naruto noticed how that chuckle was empty of emotions "He can't. There was a special seal on his body, a seal of the Shinigami. Those who have it cannot be brought back to life."

'_Ah...this explains why I haven't met a possible clone of mine yet._' thought Naruto while staring at his own mother, who was unaware of his true identity '_She is one of my targets, she will die anyway in one way or another. I could kill her now, with a sword blow...but my father would bring her back to life and I'd be at the starting point._'

"Mom! I'm hungry! Can we go?" shouted a female voice from behind them and, looking in that direction, Naruto found himself for the second time having to control his emotions because two girls were running towards them, both about sixteen years old. The first was a carbon-copy of his mother, while the second was practically the same as Naruto when, in the past, he used his Oiroke no Jutsu. That detail was particularly disturbing.

"Naruko, can't you see I'm praying for your brother? You should do the same, you know?" said his mother looking at blonde girl who merely pouted before pointing at the flowers at the base of the statue.

"Can't you see those flowers? Who do you think brought them today?"

"I can confirm her story mom." said the other girl with a calm voice "Immediately after training with our sensei we went to buy some flowers and brought them here."

Kushina smiled at them "Is that so, Miwako? Then I'd say we can go eat. You go ahead, I'll join you soon."

The two girls nodded before leaving while Kushina turned again to Naruto "Those were my daughters, in a way they help me fill the void that remained after my son's death."

"I see..." Naruto stared at their retreating form for a moment before walking away "It's time for me to go. It was a pleasure to speak with you."

"The pleasure was mine." said Kushina before looking at the statue of her son. After a whole minute passed in silence, she bowed and then left, going after her daughters.

Not far away, Naruto was walking with no apparent destination and Kurama chose that particular moment to make himself heard '_**So you don't just have to kill your parents, but you also have to make your sisters orphan. This task is becoming more and more pleasant...**_'

'_This will not stop me. It is my duty as the former Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 to ensure that the flow of souls is not put at risk._' thought Naruto with a sigh '_I just hope my father has no other surprise in store for me._'

'_**It is always a possibility with your father. His mind is so sharp and full of ideas that it reminds me of Aizen. What will you do now?**_'

'_The only thing we need to know is how to get in touch with the Shinigami. Asking around would seem too suspicious, so I'm going to ask an old friend if he knows anything about it._' and with a Shumpo, Naruto was gone.

* * *

**[The next day – Suna]**

'_So this is how the Hueco Mundo would be without its eternal night._' thought Naruto while walking toward the 'gate' of Suna, which was simply a space between two rock walls, blocked at least by a door. Once reached, he had to go through the same procedure as Konoha, thus obtaining a temporary pass.

Walking through the streets of Suna, he realized how completely different the situation was from Konoha. The difference between the two villages was practically the same as that between the Rukongai and the Seireitei in the Soul Society.

'_That's strange...Suna and Konoha should be allies, so why does this place only show signs of decay and poverty?_'

'_**We'll probably find out when we can talk to Gaara, though I don't think he can tell us anything about Shinigami or the technique used by Minato.**_' said Kurama with a bored voice.

'_It's still worth a try. In any case it will be nice to see an old friend again, especially now that he has become Kazekage._' replied Naruto before reaching the Kazekage Tower. Entering the building, he approached what was supposed to be a secretary. The young girl, noticing him only after a few seconds, hastened to greet him.

"G-Good morning! How may I help you?"

"I wanted to know if it was possible to talk to the Kazekage." said Naruto with a polite tone "It's about something important."

The girl seemed surprised by his request but still looked at an agenda "The Kazekage would be free at this time, however I must first ask if he is available to meet you. Can I have a name, so as to tell him who asks to meet him?"

"Just tell him that an old friend is back from the grave. He'll probably understand." said Naruto with a little grin confusing the secretary. After squaring him for a moment, the secretary pressed the button of an intercom on her desk.

"Kazekage-sama? There is a person here who wish to meet you. He says..." she looked at Naruto who was still grinning "That he is a friend who has returned from the grave."

After a few seconds of silence, Gaara's voice was heard from the intercom "Send him in."

Naruto thanked the secretary before walking towards Gaara's office and, once in front of the door, knocked three times. Hearing a "Come in", he opened the door and entered, immediately noticing that they were not alone in there. Apart from Gaara and two hidden presences, which Naruto suggested were ANBU, there was also a young brown-haired woman with a small child in her arms who had the same hair as Gaara.

"So not only did you become Kazekage, but now you also have a family. My compliments Gaara, you got what I always dreamed of as a child." said Naruto with a smile, ignoring the suspicious look of his old friend.

"Who are you?" asked Gaara staring at the old man in front of him while sand rose from behind him to protect the woman with the child and the two ANBU were ready to attack the stranger.

"Your words hurt me Gaara..." said Naruto before being swallowed by an explosion of white smoke. Gaara and the two ANBU prepared for a possible fight, but when the smoke cleared, they remained frozen on the spot, staring with incredulous eyes at the blond young man who had appeared before them.

Naruto smiled again at Gaara "It's been a long time, my friend."

"N-Naruto...?"

"In the flesh." nodded Naruto still smiling.

"But...but that's not possible...you were executed eight years ago and your body was completely reduced to ashes." said Gaara in an insecure voice, even though he was hoping with all his heart that the person in front of him was really Naruto.

"It's true, but nothing can stop the most unpredictable ninja in Konoha, not even death." said Naruto with a grin "I thought you understood after I defeated you eight years ago, using Gamabunta to fight against the demon you released."

Gaara nodded slowly as a smile formed on his lips "Few people know about that particular...you really are Naruto."

At that moment, the two ANBU came out of their hiding places and, with a simple glance, Naruto understood who they were. The two took off their masks, showing incredulous faces.

"Naruto...how...how are you alive?" asked Temari with a trembling voice while looking at her brother's first real friend, with her brother Kankuro doing the same.

"It's a long story, Temari." said Naruto with a little smile before looking back at Gaara "If you wish, I'll tell you."

Gaara nodded, wanting to know how his friend had survived, but first he pointed to the woman who had remained silent until then "Before that, I'd like to introduce you to my wife, Matsuri, and my son, Hizari."

Naruto bowed to them "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh no, the pleasure is all mine!" said Matsuri with a smile "Gaara told me a lot about you! It is an honor to finally meet you!"

Chuckling, Naruto went to sit in front of Gaara's desk, while his friend's family went to his side "Like I said, this is going to be a long story..." and so, for hours to come, he told them about his life as Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the Soul Society, the Zanpakutō, the Hollow, Aizen and his betrayal, the Quincys, the Soul King and all the rest, including the reason for his return. At the end of his story, the four in front of him were speechless.

"And that's my story."

"This...this is incredible..." said Gaara with shocked eyes "I never thought anything like this could exist."

"W-Wait a minute!" everyone looked at Kankuro who seemed quite nervous "Now that you've told us all this, aren't we going to run into trouble with this Soul King or someone else?"

"Fear not, the simple fact that you know all this doesn't put you in danger. I am sorry to say this, but when you die, your memories of this life will be erased so in your next life, you will know nothing of it and you will have to learn it again at most." explained Naruto before sending a light glare at Kankuro "However I would appreciate that none of you went around telling what I just said. Better not think about what Konoha could do with this information."

Gaara's brother nodded quickly, feeling tiny in front of that look and, at his side, Temari grinned at the sight of her brother being put in line with a single glance.

"Your secret is safe with us, Naruto." nodded the Kazekage "What are you going to do now?"

"I will try to get in touch with the Shinigami of this world. I also came here to find out if you knew of any method to help me with the task." explained Naruto with a serious voice.

"Unfortunately we have nothing that can help you, but if you need to see it, you should go to Konoha on Sunday." said Gaara, confusing his friend.

"Why?"

"The Yondaime Hokage doesn't always use his technique to bring someone back to life, but uses it only once every Sunday to revive those who died during the week." explained Temari with a disgusted look "Practically it has become a public event for them, so you should have no trouble seeing the Shinigami."

"I see..." Naruto thought for a moment what to do but then nodded "Then I will head to Konoha to see this 'event'. However, I wanted to ask...why is Suna reduced to this state? As I recall, your village and Konoha had an alliance eight years ago."

Gaara grimaced before nodding "Yes, we were allies, but when we received word of your execution, your father offered to bring our mother back to life to keep our alliance firm." he narrowed his eyes "Using human lives as a bargaining chip disgusts me, besides the fact that they executed you when that man could bring Uchiha Sasuke back to life, as he did, made us think."

"If he can bring the dead back to life, why didn't he do it before? Why didn't he bring you back to life too?" asked Temari while shaking her head "The conclusion to which we have arrived is that you, for some strange reason, were an obstacle and they decided to remove you from this world."

"We also tried to ask the Hokage to bring you back to life, but he said he couldn't without giving us any explanation." added Kankuro with a frown "So we decided to cancel our alliance, limiting ourselves to a non-aggression pact with Konoha."

After listening to their words, a sad smile formed on Naruto's lips "I'm sorry to hear that...Suna is so reduced because of me too."

"Don't blame yourself, my friend. Your father believes he is a god and has done things that a normal person would never dare to do." said Gaara with a smile "I am the Kazekage, so the well-being of the village falls on my shoulders."

Naruto nodded before standing up "Anyway, I'll try to help you to the best of my ability. No friend of mine will suffer until I can avoid it."

"Thank you, but I think you have a long way ahead of you. Will you go to Konoha right away?" asked Gaara walking toward the door with him after Naruto used the Henge no Jutsu again.

"Tomorrow. It may not seem like it, but now my speed is higher than that of Minato. I will arrive in Konoha in a short time." explained Naruto with a grin.

"I see, so what about being my guest? My house is big and we have many empty rooms."

"I appreciate the invitation, but if there is one thing I remember is that Jiraiya has spies everywhere and I would like to avoid attracting attention while I'm here." said Naruto with a frown while looking out of a window "I'll just sleep in a hotel."

"Very well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I will do everything in my power to help you." said Gaara before shaking his hand.

"Thank you Gaara, it means a lot to me." said Naruto with a smile before setting out on the streets of Suna, soon disappearing in the crowd.

"Naruto-kun has really changed a lot." said Temari in a pleasant tone.

"Oh? Naruto-_kun_?" repeated Kankuro with a grin, making her blush "Ah blackmail material!"

In his momentary moment of victory, Kankuro didn't notice how Gaara had left together with his wife and son, just as he didn't notice that Temari had worn her ANBU mask again.

"Kankuro...?"

The young boy froze after hearing his sister's voice and, turning slowly towards her, he saw Temari raise her fan above her head "Care to repeat that?"

"NOT THE FACE!"

A few blocks away, Naruto stopped for a second '_Mh...I would swear I heard Kankuro scream._'

'_**Like a little girl?**_'

Naruto nodded '_Like a little girl. Now, where can I find a hotel?_' but his search was abruptly interrupted when a voice was heard behind him.

"Oh I think it's the first time I can get close to you without being identified."

Naruto quickly turned to the person who had spoken but what he saw made his eyes widen in shock.

The newcomer smiled at him "It's been a while, Captain-Commander."

"YOU?!"

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

* * *

**And here we are with a second chapter! I hope you liked it! In this chapter we discovered several things! First of all, Naruto now has two sisters and apparently, no one hates him (this will not be the classic fic where everyone hates Naruto because he is a demon and should be a pawn and a weapon)! The main clans (Uchiha, Uzumaki and Senju) have all been brought back to life! Gaara got married and also has a son!**

**Naruto's list of targets is long, but first he must block the Shinigami before he can get to work, and an unknown person knows who he really is! I bet many of you already know it!**

**I am happy that this fic had a good start and that it was appreciated by many! Fortunately, this fic is mostly already written (I had written it long ago) so I just have to correct every single chapter (with any changes) before publishing it, so the updates should be fast enough.**

**Now, here are the answers to some reviews!**

**\- Spacecore94: Yes, I have some idea for the pairing, but for now it's secret!**

**\- Kurama Otsutsuki: Really? As far as I know, his Bleach/Naruto fics have Naruto as Barragan, Ulquiorra, Harribel and the God Hollow or something like that. In which fic he's Yamamoto?**

**\- UnsanMusho: Yes, most likely.**

**\- Midnight49: Nope, Sasuke was back to life pretty fast, so he wasn't reborn somewhere else.**

**\- Mas2009: People will die, in due time, but people will die.**

**\- Guest: I already have plans for Unohana, but thanks for the advice!**

**I OWN NOTHING!**


	3. The Shinigami

Naruto could only watch the person in front of him with shocked eyes. Since arriving in this world, he had been surprised several times, but none of them was comparable to the shock he was feeling at that moment seeing someone he thought he would never see again, someone who was wearing the unmistakable haori of the captains of the Gotei 13.

"I think it's the first time I see you so surprised." said that person with a calm voice "Is seeing me here such a big surprise?"

The former Captain-Commander stood still for a few seconds before shaking his head "I think you would have the same reaction in my place." but then, he let a small smile form on his lips "It's nice to see you again, Captain Unohana."

Retsu Unohana, former captain of the Fourth Division of the Gotei 13, smiled at him "Only a few days have passed, yet to me it seems like an eternity. Your death was a hard blow to the entire Gotei 13."

Naruto remained silent before looking towards the sky "Those youngsters are strong. I have trained many of them, and I know what they are capable of."

The woman chuckled a bit "I knew you'd say it. Could you be interested in knowing who took your place?"

After thinking about it for a few seconds, Naruto nodded "How about talking about it at lunch?"

"Sure, how about some ramen?" asked Retsu, surprising the former Captain-Commander "Ichibē Hyōsube also told me about your life as Uzumaki Naruto when he told me about your mission."

Naruto looked at her with serious eyes "Were you sent here to help me?"

Retsu smiled at him "That's right, but like you said...let's talk about it over a cup of ramen, I've always liked strong-flavored dishes." and with that, she walked toward an inn with Naruto at her side. In short, the two were seated at an isolated table, under Naruto's request, and both ordered ramen.

"So, how come you were sent here with me? I understand the reasoning in wanting to assist me, but your healing skills would be more useful in the Soul Society, especially now that they are at war with the Quincys." said Naruto with a calm voice, before adding in a sadder tone "Unless you too have reached the end."

Retsu smiled sadly at him "Unfortunately you guessed right, but I didn't die at the hands of a Quincy. I died at the hands of the one I consider a worthy successor."

Naruto was surprised by her words before nodding "That brat has finally figured out what it means to be a Captain?"

"That I don't know" replied Retsu before chuckling a bit "What I do know is that he can finally do justice to the title of Kenpachi."

The former Captain-Commander snorted "Well, whatever he does, he's no longer my problem. The last time he caused damage I had to hear the Central 46's complaints for days and days." Retsu couldn't help laughing at the memory of that episode "Anyway...have you been sent here just to assist me?"

"Yes, that's the deal but in return I can live my new life here, just like you. After all, I lived here before being reborn as a Soul." explained Retsu surprising Naruto "In fact, I lived during the period in which you were Uzumaki Naruto. We also met before my death." noticing Naruto's confused look, she added with a small smile "During your first C-Rank mission turned A-Rank."

Hearing those words, Naruto's eyes widened instantly due to the shock "Haku?!"

However, rather than nodding, Retsu showed him a grin that, many years ago, terrorized the other captains of the Gotei 13 "Close enough, gaki."

Naruto's mind, like Kurama's, suffered a blackout for several seconds, before a single word came out of his mouth.

"Z-Zabuza?!"

**§ - § - § - § - §**

**FLAMES OF DUTY**

**Chapter Three: The Shinigami**

**§ - § - § - § - §**

**[Meanwhile – Konoha]**

"And with this, the meeting is over." said Namikaze Minato with a smile on his face as he stamped an important document. Looking forward, he kept his smile "Thanks for your hard work. I hope to see you all at the festival tomorrow."

The only masked person sitting at the table, an ANBU with a dragon mask, said nothing before fading away in a swirl of leaves. Minato chuckled "Obviously I'm referring to those who aren't always on duty."

"What a drag..." said Nara Shikaku with a sigh "This meeting was longer than the others."

"You knew what was waiting for you when you accepted the position of representative of the Konoha clans." said Ichiraku Teuchi with a smile "You and I are in the same boat, after all."

"Troublesome...next time I will vote for Itachi instead of accepting this job..."

Minato laughed at his friend's words, before greeting the rest of the Council and going to his office, where he knew other documents to sign were waiting for him. At least with the new Council he had established eight years ago, the Hokage's workload had dropped considerably and in the evening he could even finish early if he was lucky.

When Minato had returned from the 'grave', the Council was still composed exclusively of the Hokage and the village elders: Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu. However, after Minato discovered Danzo's true intentions, as well as his private militia called ROOT, he removed him from the Council and imprisoned him in the Konoha maximum security prison, before inserting Saturobi Hiruzen, despite his new youth, in his place.

However, Minato realized that such a limited Council could not help him on all aspects of the village, so he decided to add three new elements: the ANBU Commander, Dragon, who helped him make important decisions regarding the most arduous missions; a representative of the Konoha clans which was decided by voting by all the clan heads, and with the last vote his dear friend Shikaku was elected, and finally a representative of civilians, who was voted in the same way but only by civilians, and the position was taken by Ichiraku Teuchi thanks to his experience and his various knowledge about the civilian population. Thanks to these changes, life had become much easier for Minato, even though the work was never lacking.

Entering his office, Minato went to sit at his desk where he remained silent for a few seconds before looking at the two photos he always kept at hand. The first was eight years old and depicted him sitting right at that desk with Kushina and their daughters by his side; it had been taken a few days after his return. The second, the one that for him was perhaps even more important, had been taken a few months before the other and depicted a blond boy with blue eyes and a white and red face.

That was the picture of Naruto when he had to do it for his ninja ID.

When Hiruzen had told him about that day, Minato had laughed, happy that his son was always cheerful and inclined to make jokes despite his difficult life. Now, Minato kept it on his desk as a warning of his failure. Despite his brilliant mind and his skill in the seals, he had never been able to find a way around the seal of the Shinigami he had used to block the Kyuubi inside Naruto.

That fateful night, Minato had thought of using the same seal he had used on himself, but Naruto was just a baby and the seal needed a strong will to stay intact. If he had used it on his son, the Kyuubi would have fled his little body after a few seconds, killing him in the process. In the coming years, Minato had tried everything but every seal he created to bring the others back to life always ended up reacting with the Shinigami seal.

The worst moment of his life was when he decided to take advantage of Uchiha Sasuke's retrieve mission to be able to eliminate his son once he was under the control of the fox, but even then, the plan failed. When they had brought Naruto back to Konoha, after making him lose his conscience with a seal at the base of his neck, Minato had decided that it was his job to finish all this, but his teacher had told him that he didn't have the courage to do it. Minato still hated Jiraiya for noticing it right away.

After his son's execution, Minato had preferred to remain hidden for a day so he could mentally recover, but then he started his plan for a lasting peace. Bringing to life the strongest people of the past, he had made Konoha remain the strongest village without needing another war to prove it. Along with the fox chakra that he was controlling and several seals, he had also found a way to make people rejuvenate so as to bring them back to their best years. Minato had proposed to do the same with their allies, like Taki and Suna, but the latter had refused shortly before canceling their alliance.

Some people had proposed to take their alliance back by force, but Minato had rejected any idea about it, saying he didn't want to start another war. The proof was that, eight years after his return, he had never tried to invade the other Lands despite the overwhelming superiority of Konoha.

"Don't worry Naruto, I'll find a way to bring you back to life." said Minato with a smile before hearing someone knock on the door of his office "Come in!"

A Chūnin came in hurriedly before stopping in front of his desk "Hokage-sama, the south gate guards have reported something they think you should know."

Minato immediately took a serious look "What is it?"

The ninja in front of him gave him a file with some papers inside and, once opened, Minato saw a photo of a bald old man with a long gray beard and a scar on his forehead "Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto?"

"Yes sir." nodded the Chūnin "Apparently, he arrived just before noon yesterday and asked if he could enter Konoha and stay for a couple of days. From what the guards told us, he hadn't come to Konoha for several years and wanted to see what had changed."

"I see...and this Genryūsai caused trouble?"

"Not at all, but it seems that he is no longer in Konoha and no guard post at the gates has seen him leave the village." explained the ninja with a serious look "We also tried to use the security force and your seals to increase the capacity of their Byakugan, but there was no way to find him."

"Mh..." Minato looked down at the picture of Naruto's Henge "Try again to look for him, if not in the village try in the training grounds or in the wooded areas."

"Yes Hokage-sama." the Chūnin nodded before leaving the office.

'_Maybe he's a retired ninja and he left with some jutsu...but the barrier that surrounds Konoha should have noticed it._' thought Minato before starting to sign documents '_Maybe it's nothing...but why do I have the impression that something big is coming?_'

* * *

**[Suna]**

An uncomfortable silence hung over the inn's table as Naruto ate his ramen without looking up. He was in his fifth bowl, yet he hadn't yet said a single word. The waitress was even intimidated by his presence when she brought him the food.

The woman sitting in front of him, after all that time, could no longer hold back a laugh "I've known you for so many years, but this is the first time I've seen you sulk for a little joke."

"In both my lives I never liked being on the receiving end of a joke, especially during my days like Uzumaki Naruto, but you should already know this, Haku." replied Naruto with a stern look, making her giggle.

"Forgive me, but I couldn't waste such an occasion." said the now identified Haku.

"Now, could you tell me how you can be Haku _and_ Zabuza?" asked the former Captain-Commander before finishing his bowl of ramen.

"To put it simply, when we died, I didn't want to abandon Zabuza. He should have gone to Hell for all he did, but I didn't want to let him go. Apparently my soul didn't want to be separated from his." said Haku with a fond smile while poking the ramen in her bowl "And with mine being a pure soul, the Soul King decided to merge our souls, letting mine be the predominant one."

Naruto snorted at that "Hard to say, seeing your early years as Gotei 13, and even before then."

Haku had to concede that point "It is true that during my reign as the first Kenpachi my behavior was more similar to Zabuza's, but I think that was a thoughtful reflection of my soul before being reborn. The desire not to lose him."

"And eventually your kind side surfaced when you became Captain of the Fourth Division." said Naruto looking at the woman who who had remained at his side as Captain since the beginning of the Gotei 13.

"You can say that." nodded Haku "When Ichibē Hyōsube brought me back to life and gave me memories of my past life, he explained your mission to me and offered to assist you."

"I see." Naruto started to eat his sixth bowl "I guess you want to know what I discovered so far."

Haku smiled at him "I would really appreciate it." and so Naruto began to tell her everything he had discovered, from the people brought back to life by Minato to his idea of coming into contact with the Shinigami of that world. At the end of the story, Haku seemed to be thinking intensely about something "A lot of targets, without a doubt. However, I think I have an easier way to get in touch with the Shinigami, assuming that Zabuza's memories are reliable."

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently, when Zabuza was still young, he had heard about the Uzumaki clan and how they were close allies of Konoha. Among the various stories he had heard, there was one that told of a temple located not far from Konoha, and that there was a way to get in touch with the Shinigami." explained Haku with a serious look "We could try to reach this temple and see if the story is true or not."

Naruto seemed to think about it for a few seconds before nodding "Very well, we'll do as you say. It should not be difficult to find this temple."

Haku nodded as well and, after paying and going to the deserted alley, the two disappeared into thin air using both a perfect Shumpo.

* * *

**[Konoha's Outskirts]**

"Well, it must be admitted that it is a temple worthy of the name." said the former captain of the Fourth Division while looking at the huge temple in front of them, perfectly maintained and without any defect.

"Mh...they must have recently renovated it. That wood is too light to be old." noted Naruto before walking toward it with Haku at his side. The two entered without any difficulty, as the place was deserted, and immediately found themselves facing a wall on which twenty-seven oni-masks were hung.

"What exactly are we looking for?"

"A mask would be obvious, but I can't say which one." replied Haku looking at the various masks.

Naruto seemed to look at them all one by one, but his gaze stopped on one in particular with small horns pointing upwards. Approaching that one, he removed it from the wall to look at it better and immediately noticed a small seal in the inner part, where usually the forehead was going to rest.

"This one." said the former Captain-Commander "This is the one we are looking for."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Haku with confused eyes "Did you understand that from that seal?"

"Not really, it's just that I can feel something with this one. The others are just plain masks made of wood." explained Naruto "We should leave this place and move to a more secluded place. From what I've seen, nobody has returned to Uzushio after its destruction. There we can talk undisturbed with the Shinigami."

Haku nodded without objecting and the two vanished again, reappearing a few minutes later amid the ruins of Uzushio. Naruto looked at the mask again and, for some strange reason, he realized that the seal was a sort of Henge turned into a seal. Ignoring how he knew that, he channeled his chakra into the seal in order to destroy it and he succeeded, yet the small shockwave that came out of the mask also canceled his Henge.

"Oh my..."

Hearing Haku's surprised voice, Naruto turned to her only to remain speechless because in front of him there was no longer Unohana Retsu, but a young girl of her age with long black hair that fell down her back, brown eyes full of emotions and a figure that had nothing to envy to the body of the former captain even with the clothes of a Shinigami on her.

"Haku...?" said Naruto seeing her nod with a light blush on her face "So...you were also using a Henge?"

"Y-Yes, I didn't know if you also had a new body or not, so I preferred to use it." explained Haku still looking at the much improved body of Naruto, at least compared to his old body when he was still a ninja Konoha "You...you look good! Even without the beard!"

"T-Thanks...you too...without the scar...on your chest." replied Naruto before looking away with a nervous look '_Great...now why am I talking like this? We've been fighting side by side for hundreds of years and I've never had trouble talking to her..._' shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, he looked back at the mask and his expression suddenly turned grim. Haku seemed to notice it and looking at the mask, her expression also darkened, as the mask they had recovered had changed in appearance.

Now, the mouth of the mask was no longer open, but closed with a long series of teeth on display, while the holes for the eyes were now thinner and wider, and finally the two horns were longer and red as well as the 'hair' paintings on the forehead.

"Naruto...that's..."

"Yes, there's no doubt." said Naruto staring at the mask in his hand "This is a Hollow Mask...very similar to that used by Kurosaki Ichigo and the other Shinigami who had been deceived by Aizen."

"What are we going to do? Do you still want to use it?"

"Yes, since we have recovered it, we might as well use it." nodded Naruto before putting it on his face all the while channeling chakra into it. After a few seconds, the mask detached itself from his face before levitating in front of them and, from it, a strange, violent mist began to come out. In short, the Shinigami formed before their eyes and the mask fell to the ground.

Naruto and Haku stared at their 'version' of that world **(A.N: they're also Shinigami, so they are staring at a comrade in a sense)** but, against all expectations, after seeing them the Shinigami sank to touch the ground with his knees before bowing.

"**Captain-Commander ****Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto****! It's an honor to finally meet you!**"

'_Well...that was unexpected..._' thought Naruto with a little sweatdrop before speaking "You know me?"

"**But of course! I and the Shinigami of 'primitive' worlds know all about the Soul Society and your legend. The Soul King keeps us informed cyclically about the events of the main worlds, so that we know how to react.**" said the Shinigami with a nod before noticing Haku "**Ah! Unohana-senpai! Forgive me, I didn't see you!**"

Haku was surprised as well "Don't worry, it's no big deal..."

"Since you know about me...do you also know why I'm here?" asked Naruto with a calm voice.

"**Yes, ****Ichibē Hyōsube ****sent me a message warning me of your arrival and your mission.**" the ghostly entity stood up "**I am mortified. Because of me, you two have been sent to a world like this to solve my problems.**"

"Don't blame yourself. The humans of this world are capable of almost impossible exploits compared to the humans of other worlds." said Naruto while shaking his head "Now, I need to know if you can eliminate the people you brought back to life."

"**Unfortunately it is impossible for me. The jutsu created by that damn Namikaze prevents me from eliminating them, and I can't even cause their souls to deteriorate. I am practically without power until I am summoned and controlled by that jutsu.**" explained the Shinigami before showing several seals on his body "**They practically sealed me in my turn, and if anyone ever evoked me outside of that Namikaze, I couldn't use my powers. Besides...these damn seals prevent me from talking about Konoha's secrets...**"

"Konoha's secrets?" repeated Haku arching an eyebrow.

The Shinigami nodded "**Through me, that damn human has done more than bring the dead back to life but I can't say what...**"

"This may be a problem. We don't know what he has in store for us." said Haku before looking at Naruto who was staring at the Shinigami with serious eyes.

"I understand. We will now use a powerful form of Kidō to seal you. You can continue to reap souls and send them to the circle of rebirth, but you can no longer be summoned by anyone in this world." explained the blonde before looking at Haku "Can you help me?"

"You don't even need to ask." said the woman with a smile before starting to work with Naruto.

It took a few hours, but in the end, the Shinigami was wrapped in golden chains that came out of the ground and entered his body. Soon after, several red seals appeared on his body and a barrier of light formed around him. Finally, the barrier dissolved slowly and a black iron lock appeared hanging from the band around the waist of the Shinigami.

"Done, now you're no more under the control of the humans." nodded Naruto with a satisfied look.

"**Thank you very much, ****Genryūsai-****dono.**" the Shinigami bowed again "**I know that I can't do much, but please, accept this gift from me. It will help you in your task.**" and after that, he touched their foreheads with the point of a finger. After a few seconds, he saw their eyes becoming yellow with black sclera like his own before returning normal.

"What was that?" asked Haku looking around before focusing her gaze on the Shinigami.

"**I have just given you what the humans in this world call Dōjutsu. Just channel your chakra into the eyes to activate it and it will allow you to recognize those who have been brought back to life, as they will be the only ones to have an aura similar to mine around their bodies.**" said the Shinigami with a light nod.

"Thank you, it will be very useful." Naruto nodded back at him before dismissing the Shinigami who vanished into nothingness and the mask, used to evoke it, shattered in several pieces.

"Should we act right away?" asked Haku with Naruto nodding.

"Yes, it's time for us to send a sign." said the former Captain-Commander before using his Shumpo to head toward Konoha, with Haku right behind him.

* * *

**[The next day – Konoha]**

"So this is Konoha uh?" asked Haku walking among the villagers who were celebrating like there was no tomorrow. The sun had just set, and yet many people were already blatantly drunk, yet the cheerfulness in the streets seemed to have no end.

"Yes, even though it is quite different from when I lived here." said Naruto, again with a Henge over his real body, just like Haku.

"I guess it's normal and...Naruto?"

"I know. They are following us." replied the young man without looking at her.

"How do you want to act?" asked Haku looking at some stalls.

"Tonight will be the time when we will show ourselves to everyone, but first I think it is better to remove these 'shadows'." said Naruto with a stern voice.

Haku chuckled a bit before nodding "Captain Soifon would definitely be angry at such a poor stealth." and with that, both of them disappeared with a perfect Shumpo, reappearing in the middle of a training ground completely desert. They only had to wait a minute before being surrounded by a dozen ANBUs who had already drawn their swords.

"Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto you have to come with us. Don't resist or we'll have to use more violent methods to arrest you." said one of the ANBU with an emotionless voice.

"Yare yare...these brats don't really know what education is." sighed Naruto while his eyes turned for moment black and yellow "Especially those who were originally dead."

The ANBU didn't react to his words, yet Haku took a step forward "Is it okay if i take care of them? They are targets after all."

Naruto eyed his partner for a moment while the ANBU were ready to jump at them "You seem particularly anxious to fight. Is it Yachiru Unohana who's talking?"

"Maybe..." said Haku with a cold smile on her face "...or maybe not. It's just that I want to test my _old_ blade."

"Then, by all means, they are all yours." nodded Naruto without worrying about her or their enemies.

At that moment, the ANBU captain ordered his team to attack, but in Haku's eyes, they seemed to go in slow motion. With that scary smile still on her face, she drew her sword '_One thing I thought about was that perhaps the command of our __Zanpakutō__ would have been the same. Maybe one day we will be able to find out, Kenpachi Zaraki._'

As the ANBUs descended on her with their weapons aimed at killing, she lifted her sword horizontally, touching the blade with her free hand.

In the darkness of the night, two words echoed in the air.

"Drink, Kubikiribōchō!"

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

* * *

**And here we are! Third chapter is out! Forgive the wait but with Easter and Easter Monday I have never been home! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I look forward to reading it in your reviews!**

**We found out who the mysterious person was at the end of the last chapter (and congratulations to Midnight49 for guessing that it was Haku, even if he/she didn't get the part of Zabuza but I think nobody would get there), that the Shinigami mask was actually a Hollow mask and that apparently the Zanpakutō of Retsu / Haku is now different! How? You'll find out in the next chapter!**

**Now, for the pairing: Hinata will NOT be in the picture. If you think about this Naruto and his task, you can guess why!**

**Now, time for some answers!**

**Midnight49: your doubts will find an answer in the next chapters! All of them!**

**naes151: nope, Naruto has no beard in his new body. He's still young after all!**

**SEE YOU AROUND!**


	4. Declaration of War

An instant flash was the only thing the ANBU could see before being beheaded. Even before the blood could flow from the neck, three other ANBU suffered the same fate and only then did the captain realize that the woman they had attacked had vanished into thin air.

'_Where is she...?_' as soon as their feet touched the ground, he and the other ANBU gathered around looking for their opponent, ignoring the corpses of their comrades and Naruto who was on the sidelines watching the fight, with no intention of intervening.

"I admit that you are fast..." said a cold female voice shocking all the ANBU, since the voice came exactly from the center of their formation "...but not enough!"

The ANBU captain was the only one to use a Kawarimi no Jutsu in time to replace himself with a rock, which was cut in half horizontally, like all the other ANBU. The man reappeared nearby, his sword in position to attack but, just like before, Haku had vanished.

Before he could even try to locate her, the edge of a blade was placed against the side of his neck, freezing him on the spot.

"Congratulations, I thought I was able to kill you with one slash, but apparently your control over the Shinigami didn't soften you at all."

The ANBU turned his head slowly and was shocked upon recognizing the sword that had killed all his comrades: the Kubikiribōchō, one of the Seven Legendary Swords of Kiri. When he finally managed to see Haku's face, even with his control of emotions, he couldn't control the chills from seeing her blood-thirsty look "Who are you...?"

In response, Haku beheaded him without thinking twice, letting his body fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The woman stood still for several seconds until someone put a hand on her shoulder. Turning slightly, she saw the calm but at the same time worried eyes of Naruto.

"Are you okay?"

Haku smiled at him "Yes, nothing serious."

Instead of letting her go, Naruto slightly tightened his grip on her shoulder "As Haku I hardly knew you, but I know when Retsu Unohana has something that disturbs her."

The woman looked back ahead before sighing "It is the first time in many years that I have felt so...euphoric. If we exclude my confrontation with Zaraki Kenpachi, it's been hundreds of years since I last spilled blood so easily, and if we add the fact that this reminds me of the days when Zabuza was still walking on this earth..."

"You're in conflict with yourself, aren't you?"

"You could say that...if you remember, I never killed anyone as Haku, or as Retsu Unohana..." after a moment of silence, her Zanpakutō returned to its basic form and Haku sheathed it "I'm afraid I may have identity problems."

"Unlikely." said Naruto without missing a beat, surprising Haku "You were and are a strong woman. You have all the qualities that have allowed you to become the captain of two divisions of the Gotei 13 without ever giving way to some challenger and you have always done your duty with dedication and skill. If there's one thing I know, it's that memories won't break your mind."

Haku smiled again, looking back at him "You've always been good with words."

"You can call it experience." snorted Naruto "Now...your Zanpakutō's Shikai is different."

"Yes, I felt a change in my sword the moment I got the memories of my past lives. Did it happen to you too?"

Naruto shook his head "No, Even though I now know who my sword really is, Shikai and Bankai are still the same."

Haku seemed confused by his words, but preferred not to dwell further on the subject and noticed one thing "Those ANBU have been following us since we arrived in Konoha."

"If there is one thing that is not lacking among their ninja are the sensors and the trackers. It's likely that the first time I came back here, they somehow memorized my chakra, and when I disappeared, Minato must have ordered me to keep an eye on me if I reappeared." explained Naruto "Fortunately for me, my chakra is different from eight years ago."

"What about the fox?" asked Haku, since she now knew that Naruto, in his previous life, had been a Jinchuuriki.

Naruto merely grinned before raising the cane that hid his sword "Like I said, now I know who my Zanpakutō really is."

Finally Haku understood the meaning of his words and nodded "Since it's in that form, they cannot locate its chakra."

"Exactly. Now I would say that we need to go back. Tonight we will send a message to Minato as well as to all those who approve his choices." said Naruto with Haku nodding at him before disappearing with a Shumpo.

**§ - § - § - § - §**

**FLAMES OF DUTY**

**Chapter Four: Declaration of War**

**§ - § - § - § - §**

"We seem to spend most of our time eating." joked Haku while sitting in a restaurant with Naruto in front of her. Before returning to the heart of the village, both had used a spell to erase their presence, including their chakra, thus allowing them to avoid being spotted again by the sensors. In addition, knowing that Konoha's ninjas probably also had a picture of Naruto, they had both decided to change Henge, turning into their respective lieutenants who had long served them in the Gotei 13.

"It can't be helped." said Naruto with the appearance of Chōjirō "Apparently, Minato will make an announcement at midnight on the balcony of the Hokage Tower. It seems to be a tradition and nothing new, but it will be the moment when most of the village will be watching him. At that moment, we will act."

"Sounds good to me." smiled Haku while eating a steak, but when Naruto was about to continue with his meal, a group of people came into the room and those voices caught their attention.

'_Well...nobody is missing._' thought Naruto looking at his former friends, plus his two sisters. While he and Haku were walking through the village, they had heard some people talking about those young ninjas to which the Yondaime Hokage's two daughters had joined, dubbing them Konoha 13. Both he and Haku had almost laughed after hearing that nickname, unable to help comparing them to the Gotei 13. Haku had even joked that, however strong they might be, they were still weaker than the lieutenants of the thirteen divisions.

"This is so boring...why can't we just take a mission tomorrow?" said Naruko with a sigh.

"Troublesome. Can't you just rest for a few days? I would do it." replied Shikamaru while sitting between his teammates.

Sakura looked at him with "You will rest every day of the year if only you could..."

"Nh. I'm with Naruko this time." Sasuke's unexpected comment arrived "We haven't been on a mission for four days."

"You too Sasuke-kun?" questioned Sakura with surprised eyes "I thought you liked spending time at home."

"I like it, but not when my mother starts to wonder when she can have grandchildren to spoil." said Sasuke with a slight blush, mimicked by Sakura who, much to Naruto's surprise, had a wedding ring on her finger, just like Sasuke.

'_**Well who would have thought that! The King of the Emos got married!**_' said Kurama with a laugh before adding '_**And with a woman!**_'

'_And I thought that nothing could surprise me anymore..._' thought Naruto noticing that even Kiba and Ino had rings, but they didn't seem to be husband and wife, they even sat in two distant parts of the table. The same could not be said for Neji and Tenten, with her having the symbol of the Hyuuga clan on her dress.

"Both have grown up." said Haku looking at Sakura and Sasuke while thinking back at their first encounter.

"It would seem so." nodded Naruto before eating his food without speaking anymore.

After a few minutes, however, Haku spoke to him "What are you thinking about? And don't try to deny the obvious, as you know me, I know you."

"I was just imagining what would have happened if I hadn't been killed eight years ago. If my father had really died the night I was born, maybe all this would never have happened and I would be sitting at that table eating with my comrades." said Naruto before shacking his head "However you can't change the past and now that I've lived for so many years as Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, I wouldn't go back even if I could."

Haku smiled at him, nodding at his words and contrary to what they had done so far, she began to chat with him about things that had happened in their past life. Time seemed to pass quickly while the two former captains ate and talked serenely, ignoring what was happening around them, until it was time to pay and leave, however, just before going out, Naruto glanced quickly at the table where his former comrades and his sisters were sitting, and activated the Shinigami's eyes.

What he saw pleased him not at all.

"Naruto...?" called Haku noticing his eyes "What's wrong?"

"Seven of them..."

"Uh?"

"Seven of them have died in the past." said Naruto looking at her with serious eyes "I'll have to kill seven of my former comrades."

* * *

**[Meanwhile – Minato's Office]**

"Is it true?" asked Minato looking at the ANBU in front of him.

"Yes, sir." nodded the ANBU "The team that reported having identified Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto with an unknown woman was found in the training ground seven. All dead, killed by a single sword slash."

Minato narrowed his eyes "Hasn't he been found yet?"

"No, sir. It seems to have disappeared into thin air. No chakra residues to follow, no odors of any kind." reported the ANBU.

"Minato, this is a serious situation." said the Yondaime's sensei, leaning against a wall with a serious face for once "Those ANBU were not at all weak and among them there were also an Uzumaki and an Uchiha. To be killed with a single sword stroke..."

"Yes...whoever killed them is very dangerous." nodded Minato before looking at the village "Any suggestions?"

"In addition to alerting all the ANBU? I would say that you could bring those who were killed back to life, so that you can understand how they died and how strong is this enemy." said Jiraiya with as shrug.

Minato nodded before dismissing the masked ninja in front of hi, after ordering him to alert the other ANBU teams. Done that, he went into a large underground chamber covered with seals along with his sensei and, after closing the door, started going through a long series of hand-signs.

This was the special jutsu he had created during the time he was hidden. It was a technique that combined the Edo Tensei, where the Shinigami was summoned so as to obtain the souls of the dead, and the legendary Banbutsu Sōzō (Creation of all Things), where Minato used the Kyuubi's chakra to create a new body around the evoked souls, using the memories of the souls in order to recreate their old bodies.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu! Rakuen kara no fukki (Return from the Heavens)!" shouted Minato before slamming his hands on the ground.

However, this time nothing happened.

Jiraiya looked at the floor with confused eyes "Minato? Is something wrong?"

"I don't know, sensei." Minato was confused as well "I did everything as usual, but nothing happens..." and then tried again to use his jutsu several times, failing each time "What's going on?!"

"I checked the room seals and they are all in order. It is possible that something outside this room is interfering with your technique." said Jiraiya with a worried look "Now we can't know how those ANBU died, in fact I think it was that man who caused all this. He must have found a way to block your jutsu."

"This is bad, this is really bad!" Minato looked back at his master spy "Sensei, I know you've just returned from a mission and you want to relax, but I need you to go out there and help the ANBU."

"You can count on me kid. I'll summon some toads to help me, maybe I'll ask Orochimaru to summon some of his snakes to help me." nodded Jiraiya before disappearing in a small explosion of white smoke.

Left alone, Minato took deep breaths to calm himself. His speech was now only a few minutes away and he couldn't show himself agitated in front of the civilians. Once the speech was concluded, he would call an emergency council and handle the current situation. Nodding to himself, the Hokage left the room heading towards the balcony from which he would speak to all of Konoha.

Little did he know, that Konoha would have received a completely different message from his own.

* * *

**[A few minutes after – In the sky above Konoha]**

"It's starting." said Haku looking down at the Hokage Tower and the huge crowd in the square in front of it "Will you act immediately?"

Naruto, now again with the appearance of Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, stared down at his father as he walked on the balcony, immediately receiving applause and shouts of joy from the audience "Yes, I'll let him start his speech and then I'll gain their attention."

Several meters below, Minato raised his arms to silence the crowd, smiling at them all "I want to start this speech by saying that I am proud of Konoha and of how it is growing non-stop, from all points of view!" more applauses and cheers followed his words "For several months now, Konoha has confirmed that it is the strongest and most prosperous village of all, without any war! With the return of our loved ones, now we can only think of an even more radiant future! A future where even the idea of a war is unthinkable!"

'_I'm sorry Minato, but your bright future will never start._' thought Naruto as his wooden staff disappeared, showing his sheathed Zanpakutō '_I will be the fire that will burn that hope._'

"In order for this magnificent future to become reality, we must not stop and believe firmly in our unity and in our strength, the Will of Fire!" shouted Minato with conviction in his voice and, at that precise moment, a small smile on Naruto's face was the one that put Haku on alert, forcing her to move several meters away with a Shumpo, just when an overwhelming pressure began to crush the entire village, shocking everyone.

Slowly, Naruto drew his sword, sensing Kurama's feeling of anticipation and pleasure, and honestly he couldn't blame the former Bijuu. Powerful flames began to come out of the blade of the sword and, when it was pointed towards the sky, Naruto released its power power, with his words echoing through the whole village.

"Reduce all Creation to Ash! Ryūjin Jakka!"

Naruto was suddenly enveloped in its flames and their light caught the attention of all Konoha. All the ninja, as well as the civilians, looked up in shock thinking that it was an enemy attack directed towards them. They were almost correct.

In the midst of that sea of flames, Minato could barely make out a humanoid figure before a mighty amount of those flames were thrown against the Hokage Mountain, hitting his face in full. The impact generated a violent explosion and everyone saw with horror the stone face of the Yondaime Hokage being destroyed by those flames, while the faces of the Sandaime and the Godaime were heavily burned. The whole thing lasted only a few moments. The flames were lost immediately after destroying the stone face of Minato, leaving a smoldering chasm in its place and black marks on the adjacent faces.

Slowly, the pressure that was crushing the entire village became lighter and more bearable, allowing many people who had fallen to their knees to stand up. Everyone looked to the sky and, now that the flames were gone, they were shocked to see an old man standing in the air several meters high. Moments later, a woman dressed more or less like him appeared by his side, watching the crowd below with a calm face.

'_That's __Genryūsai!_' thought Minato with shocked eyes '_He's flying...is it possible that he is a relative of the Sandaime Tsuchikage?_'

"Konoha." said Naruto with a firm tone of voice "The days when you could play with life and death, ignoring the laws of this world, are over. I was sent here to make sure that what happened in this village never happens again."

"Who are you?!" shouted Minato jumping at the top of the Hokage Tower with several ninja appearing at his side "Have you been sent here from Iwa?!"

"I serve no Hidden Village, Namikaze Minato. I serve no one in this world." replied Naruto before pointing toward the sky with his free hand "In fact, I serve someone outside this world." among the crowd, many were left speechless before his declaration, thinking that he had been sent by Kami himself to punish them "Your Yondaime Hokage has been guilty of unspeakable crimes that have caught the attention of someone far beyond your understanding. It is for this reason that I am here today and, I am sorry to say it, but because of his actions, many of you will lose their lives."

Minato narrowed his eyes at him "What crimes?! What I did was bringing our loved ones back to life, people who never had the chance to really enjoy life! Thanks to me, no one will ever again try to declare war on us! I gave birth to a period of peace!"

Naruto saw that many people agreed with his words and that made him sigh "You fools..." his spiritual pressure suddenly increased, making weaker people faint while others fell to the ground with tears in their eyes and foam coming out of their mouths "You dared to pose to God, controlling life and death as if it were your right! You have no idea what damage you are creating to the precious balance of rebirth with your actions! But I guess you never thought about the consequences of your plans. Isn't that right, _father_?"

Those words seemed to send shivers of shivers down Minato's back, but before he could say anything, both Naruto and Haku were engulfed in white smoke explosions, while reducing the spiritual pressure.

When the smoke had cleared, all those present could only stare in shock at the two people who had emerged from the smoke, especially the one who looked like a younger carbon copy of their Hokage, albeit with a scar on his forehead. Among all of them, however, those who had known Uzumaki Naruto in the past, looked at him with pale and incredulous faces.

Minato, like many others, was left speechless when he saw his son Naruto, though aged. The hope of being able to hug him again began to get bigger and bigger, and taking a step forward, he tried to call him "N-Naruto...?!"

Naruto nodded at him "It's been a long time, _father_. Eight years, if I'm not mistaken, even if for me much more time has passed...and that is why I can no longer call myself your son, not that I intended to. However, I could almost thank you. If it wasn't for you and your actions, I wouldn't be here today."

Those words seemed to shock Minato "W-What are you talking about?"

"You see, I'm no longer the same Uzumaki Naruto you executed eight years ago. I am no longer the dead-last of the academy that shouted to everyone that he would become Hokage wearing orange clothes." said Naruto with a cold voice "I am someone completely different and I was sent here to carry out one and only one mission." he pointed his sword at Minato "Correct your mistakes and make sure you can never repeat them."

Minato paled slightly "Naruto, you're not saying that-!"

"Minato. You, and all those who have been brought back to life, are sentenced to death." Naruto said in a lapidary tone, making many of those present tremble while others did not seem to take his words well.

"What do you mean?! Do you think you can come here and threaten our Hokage?! He has the power to control death! The Shinigami himself is at his service!" shouted a Jonin with several people yelling at Naruto.

"As yes, the Shinigami..." nodded the blonde before adding "It can no longer be summoned by anyone."

Those words further shocked all those present while Minato and Jiraiya could only think '_It was him?!_'

"Earlier, some of your ANBU were killed." said Naruto without missing a beat "Your dear Hokage will not be able to bring them back to life, because the Shinigami has been permanently sealed and can no longer be controlled by anyone." panic began to grow among the crowd, with some not wanting to believe his words "As I said, all those who have been brought back to life by his jutsu will have to die to restore balance in the circle of rebirth. However, I don't want to execute you like any executioner." he raised a finger "A week. In a week's time I will come back here and I want all those who have been brought back to life gathered outside of Konoha, where they will be purified without any bloodshed."

"You can't ask us this! I don't know what you had to go through to become like that, but if you're really my son, then you'll know that none of us will give up our lives!" shouted Minato "Naruto, please! There's no reason to kill anyone! Come back to us! We can finally be a family!"

"Naruto!" the former Captain-Commander looked at Kushina who had just appeared at her husband's side "Please! Come back to us! You have no idea how many times I have dreamed of embracing you! We're a family!"

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, with Haku looking at him with worried eyes, but then he looked back at his mother.

"You're not my family." said Naruto, almost killing Kushina with those words alone "Your son died eight years ago. I know all about what happened and Minato's plan. My whole life has been nothing but an illusion, and in recent years I have begun to hate illusions with my whole being." he almost growled thinking back at Aizen "My duty is all that matters. I will complete the mission by order of the Soul King, and none of you will be able to stop me."

Ignoring the desperate faces of his former family, Naruto slowly sheathed his sword, just as three ANBU appeared behind him and Haku. He turned slightly, noticing the red hair typical of the Uzumaki clan as well as the pieces of paper covered with seals in their hands, and vanished with a Shumpo, reappearing behind them before they could even react. With a speed worthy of a master swordsman, he drew and sheathed his sword, sectioning horizontally the three ninjas who, after being divided at the waist, were consumed by flames until they became ashes.

Below them, everyone looked horrified at the scene, unable to understand what had just happened.

"One week." said Naruto like nothing has happened "You have a week to decide what to do but know this: all those who stand between me and my mission will be reduced to ashes." and with those words, he and Haku disappeared with a Shumpo.

That seemed the signal to make the panic break out among the people gathered in the square, with the civilians who started running in all directions while several ninja headed for the Hokage Mountain to see the damage suffered by the monument. Meanwhile, at the top of the Hokage Tower, Minato and Kushina continued to observe the spot where Naruto had disappeared.

"Minato..." said Jiraiya approaching his former student.

"Was that really...my son...?" asked Minato looking at him with teary eyes "Was...was that really Naruto?"

Jiraiya sighed, looking up at the sky "The resemblance is undeniable and, although he didn't seem happy to say it, he called you 'father'." he moved his gaze toward Tsunade and Kakashi who had joined them, both of them with grim faces "And now...he serves someone extremely powerful called Soul King. I've never heard of him, but certainly the flames Naruto used are no joke."

"What do we do now?" asked Kakashi while looking around, with several people who knew Naruto unable to suggest anything.

"Minato..." Jiraiya placed one hand on his former pupil's shoulder "You heard his voice before the flames appeared, didn't you...?"

Minato could only nod before looking at his sensei "Notify all others. Maybe we'll have to use _that_ to survive this new crisis...I just hope I can reason with Naruto."

The man nodded before disappearing along with other ninjas. Minato gave orders to all those present, until only he, Kushina and their daughters remained.

"Dad..." said Naruko looking at him with worried eyes "That man was...our brother?"

Minato hugged her and Miwako "I don't know, little princess. I wish it wasn't like that, especially since he wants to kill me and everyone else, and yet he was so similar..."

"He..he won't kill you, right? He's part of our family!" shouted Miwako looking at him with teary eyes "You're our father, he could never kill you!"

The man smiled sadly before going to embrace Kushina, who was crying silently "I really don't know...I just hope that all this can be solved without anyone having to die. Maybe in a week we will find an agreement and you will have your big brother!"

The two girls didn't seem to be so optimistic but they still embraced their parents while Minato looked again into the sky.

He would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so tragic.

His son had returned, as he had always wanted, but his purpose was to kill him and all those who had come back to life.

Karma really had a distorted sense of humor...

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

* * *

**And that's it! Another chapter done! I really hope you enjoyed it and can't wait to read your reviews! I also want to thank you all for the enormous support you are giving to this story!**

**In this chapter we had confirmation that Haku now has a different sword than when she was Unohana. This was also a decision based on the fact that, in this fic, Retsu was practically the union of Haku and Zabuza, so I preferred to give her something more suitable. **

**I know some of you might say that Minato shouldn't be able to use a technique similar to the Creation of all Things, but I'd like to point out to you that Menma, when he was summoning his nine mask beasts, used an almost identical technique without using absurd powers except for the chakra of the Kyuubi, just like Minato in this story.**

**Also, a small warning for the next chapter: it will cover the entire week of time that Naruto has granted to Konoha! So don't expect huge fights or countless deaths.**

**Now, time for some reviews!**

**Xenvor KuXen: really? That's make me really happy! Glad you're liking this story of mine!**

**TheForgottenSuns75: the pairing could be from the Narutoverse as well from the Bleachverse**

**Zero-san-sama: here's the fourth chapter!**

**NyaNyaKittyFace: not really, because dying isn't good anyway, it doesn't matter that you can come back to life, so all the new and old ninjas of Konoha have continued to improve so they don't die again.**

**UnsanMusho: you'll get your answers in the next chapter!**

**Firedragoonknight: nope, no beard for Naruto, it doesn't suit him.**

**KuronoDono12: this chapter should have answered your doubt!**

**SEE YOU AROUND!**


	5. Shinigami vs Zombies

"Why a week?"

Naruto looked at his side "Because I am no longer the demon that I was a thousand years ago. If I hadn't changed, I would have started killing all possible targets without hesitating a second. Giving them a week, I'll see if at least some of them know that their new life is something unnatural."

Haku hummed for a moment before pointing in front of her "Then, why are we going in this direction?"

The blonde shrugged "Konoha has allies. It is possible that Minato offered something to them as well as to Gaara. We know that Suna is no longer an ally of Konoha, but they were not the only ones with an alliance when I was still alive."

The young woman remained silent until the two arrived in front of a huge structure and a sad smile formed on her face "This certainly brings back many memories..."

"The Great Naruto Bridge..." said Naruto with a calm voice "Honestly, I'm surprised they left this name."

"Why should they change it? You are the hero of this country after all." replied Haku walking alongside him "To think that one day I would return to the place where Zabuza-sama and I died."

"If you prefer to stay here, I will not object."

Haku shook her head "No, don't worry. Even if I died here once it doesn't mean that I will die again in this place, yet there is a place I want to visit." she looked at Naruto "I guess you know where the graves of me and Zabuza are."

Nodding to her, Naruto disappeared in a Shumpo with Haku following him shortly after. In a matter of seconds, the two of them were standing in front of two wooden crosses. On one of them there was the brown sash that Haku wore around her waist when she was still alive, while behind the other stood the menacing sword used by Zabuza during the years when he was feared by everyone.

"If it's okay for you..." Haku smiled at the two crosses "I'm going to pick up some flowers."

"Take your time." nodded Naruto before walking toward the village not far away "I will go and see if this place also needs my intervention." and he disappeared again, reappearing a few seconds later in front of Tazuna's house, which had been restored and repaired '_It seems that after that mission they managed to get back on their feet._'

Going to the door, he knocked a couple of times, hearing a familiar female voice inside "Coming!" and after a few seconds, the door was opened, showing Tsunami with simple clothes on. Her expression, at first confused, turned into a shocked one as soon as she recognized the person in front of her.

"Good morning, Tsunami." said Naruto with a little bow and a smile "It's been a while."

"N-N-Naruto?!" whispered the woman staring at him like she was looking at a ghost "Is that really you?!"

"In the flesh." nodded Naruto.

"Y-You're alive?! But...but...!" her mind reached the limit at that moment and Tsunami fainted without warning, falling backwards, but before she could touch the floor, Naruto had already grabbed her with one arm before lifting her body without difficulty.

Sighing to himself, Naruto walked inside the house "Yare yare...these children are far too impressionable..."

**§ - § - § - § - §**

**FLAMES OF DUTY**

**Chapter Five: Shinigami vs Zombies**

**§ - § - § - § - §**

**[Konoha]**

Loud and rhythmic noises echoed in the air as a large wooden pole was punched and kicked mercilessly. Small patches of blood draped its surface as well as the ground below, but the person striving to hit it didn't seem to realize it.

Uchiha Sasuke had never felt so frustrated in his entire life, either before or after he died at the hands of Naruto. He was an Uchiha, an elite among the members of his clan, an ANBU captain with a record of completed missions that rivaled that of his brother and Hatake Kakashi. He was probably among the twenty strongest ninja in the entire village, he had obtained the final form of his Sharingan, the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, and was in the Bingo Book of many villages in the S-Rank ninja category, yet he couldn't calm himself after what had happened the night before.

"Sasuke."

His strokes became stronger and heavier, and he began to lose more blood as heavy cracks began to open on the pole.

"Sasuke!"

Without needing hand-seals, he channeled Raiton chakra into his hands and with ever faster strokes, destroyed the wooden pole in dozens of pieces until someone pocked him on the forehead, bringing him back to reality.

"Enough of that, foolish little brother." said Itachi staring at him with calm eyes "You're just hurting yourself."

"Itachi..." breathed Sasuke before looking down. Since his clan was brought back to life and his brother had returned to Konoha, things had improved for Sasuke, but after learning the truth about the failed coup and the true mission of Itachi, Sasuke was no longer able to integrate at best in the clan. Sure, he was now much less solitary and spoke quietly with other people, including his brother who had helped him acquire the Mangekyō Sharingan and then the Eternal one, exchanging his eyes with him, but no matter how hard he tried, Sasuke couldn't go back to being what he was before the massacre.

"What bothers you, Sasuke? Our mother told me you started punching and kicking that pole three hours ago."

Sasuke, in response, simply shook his head "You wouldn't understand."

Itachi sighed "It's about Naruto, right?" Sasuke's sudden wince confirmed his question "You're still afraid..."

Few people knew this, but Sasuke, after being brought back to life, had been hospitalized for two months due to his panic attacks, especially during sleep. It was Ino's father's turn to enter his mind and understand what was tormenting him, and what he had discovered had left him visibly shocked. Apparently, every night, Sasuke relived his battle with Naruto in his dreams, dying every single time at the hands of his opponent immediately after three red chakra tails popped out of his body.

Minato had ordered to seal that particular memory so he could calm Sasuke, yet the dreams continued. Fortunately, Itachi had decided to use his Sharingan to condition Sasuke, allowing him to face the dream once and for all. The experiment had been successful and Sasuke had managed to recover from his ailments, but the memory was still in his mind, ready to attack him.

"You don't know what it means to die...to be killed so brutally when your opponent has a sick smile on his face..." said Sasuke shacking his head "And now that person is back, probably stronger than before! Me and the others know that man was really Naruto but his power is absurd! You saw what he did to the Hokage Mountain! None of our Katon jutsu could cause that destruction without the help of some other technique!"

"And you are afraid that he will do what he said." nodded Itachi before placing a hand over his shoulder "Sasuke, the Hokage already has several plans in mind to stop it, many of which are enough to stop an out-of-control Jinchuuriki. Everything will be all right, trust yourself and those who will fight by your side."

After several seconds passed in silence, Sasuke sighed nodding "Fine...I'll try..."

"Good, now go to your wife. She was more worried than our mother." said Itachi with a little smile "It could also be the right moment to conceive some grandchildren for her."

A loud groan escaped from the lips of his little brother "Not you too..."

* * *

**[Land of Waves]**

"So...now you are alive again and your mission is to eliminate the Hokage and all those who have been brought back to life?" asked Tsunami with shocked eyes, and at her side, Inari and Tazuna were both speechless.

"Pretty much." nodded Naruto. After bursting into tears at the sight of Naruto, Inari and Tazuna had tried to wake Tsunami and, immediately afterwards, the former Captain-Commander had told them the events that had occurred since his death, omitting certain parts for safety.

"Wow...and you intend to defeat them all?! From what we know even the first two Hokage have been brought back to life!" said Inari looking at him with awe.

"I know, but if I hadn't been able to defeat them, I wouldn't have been chosen for this task." replied the former Captain-Commander with a calm voice while sipping the tea prepared by Tsunami, before adding "Now that I have explained my story to you, I have an important question for you."

"What is it?" asked Tazuna with a raised eyebrow "You need a house or things like that?"

Naruto showed a small smile to his concern but then shook his head "No, I would like to know if Minato offered you something after my death, and if you accepted."

"Oh..." Tazuna nodded, understanding his intentions "If you're wondering if there are zombies here, the answer is no. The Yondaime Hokage came to see this place a few months after his return and applied seals to the bridge to make it more durable." he snorted "No confidence at all in my super bridge!"

Tsunami chuckled at his words "Being that you were a hero for us, he asked us for forgiveness for your death and offered us to bring our loved ones back to life...but we all refused."

"May I know why?" asked Naruto, now curious about their motivation.

"Simple!" said Inari with a huge smile "Getting the people we lost during Gatō's reign of terror wouldn't have made sense without you. It's thanks to you that we have managed to move forward!"

Naruto smiled at them "I see, then I guess there's nothing to fear for you. Unless...are you still Konoha's allies?"

"More or less." shrugged Tazuna "A year after your death we have become a neutral country and now we are a point of exchange that accepts merchandise from all other countries, without exception."

"Good to know. When I'll complete my assignment, Konoha will be almost defenseless and it is likely that Iwa or Kumo will try to attack it. But if you are neutral, you will not take risks." nodded Naruto before getting up "Do you know anything about Konoha's other allies?"

"I cannot say that I am exactly up to date, but as far as I can remember Taki and the Land of Demons are their allies, while the Land of Spring has become neutral like us five years ago." said Tazuna while rubbing his chin.

'_Good, that way I won't have to worry about Koyuki._' thought Naruto before nodding "Thank you, now I will go my way, I still have something to do before returning to Konoha."

Tsunami and the rest of her family seemed sorry for his departure, but accompanied him to the door anyway.

"Please, be careful! We don't know how strong you are, and Minato could do something as absurd as in the past." said Tazuna with a worried face.

Naruto merely grinned "Don't worry, he may even have a few tricks up his sleeve, but I have over a thousand years of experience, while he barely forty." and after waving goodbye at the little family, he used his Shumpo to disappear, reaching Haku in the next second "We can leave, if you want."

The young woman nodded before caressing Zabuza's grave, to which she had hung a garland of flowers, and followed him back towards the bridge "So, do you already have a destination in mind?"

"Yes, Taki." said Naruto with a calm voice "They were allies with Konoha even when I was still alive. It's possible that Minato brought some of their ninjas back to life, such as Shibuki's father."

"Will you also give them a week to decide?"

"No, not with them. In the event that Minato really brought any of them back to life, there will never be as many as those in Konoha. Therefore one day should suffice." explained Naruto walking on the bridge named after him, just to stop after a few steps. Haku noticed that he had stopped but, before she could ask anything, Naruto turned around drawing his sword diagonally, cutting a tree a short distance away.

The huge plant collapsed to the ground, raising a little dust but Naruto continued to observe that point for a few seconds before sheathing his sword "There was someone there."

Haku narrowed her eyes looking toward the fallen tree "A shinobi from Konoha?"

"No, I felt it only for an instant, but that presence was not human..." replied Naruto before walking away with Haku "Whatever it was, it managed to escape before being cut in half."

"That is not an easy task, it must be something extremely clever if it has managed to perceive your intentions and escape." said Haku with a frown.

"True, but I didn't feel any bloodlust from that point, so it must have been something who just wanted to watch. For what purpose I do not know." Naruto then dismissed the particular event before disappearing with a Shumpo. Haku looked back at the tree with narrowed eyes before following the former Captain-Commander.

* * *

**[Unknown Location]**

"So...the Yondaime Hokage's son is really back?" asked a tall semi-transparent figure on top of a finger of a huge stone hand, looking around with his green and red eyes.

"Apparently yes, and he sent a clear message to all Konoha." nodded a smaller figure, similar to a crouching man "My spies have told me everything in detail."

"Ah! I never thought I'd meet an artist like me, yeah!" grinned another figure with one eye covered by his hair.

Any comments were interrupted when, from the ground to the center of the cave, a species of giant carnivorous plant began to emerge.

A figure with purple eyes and several circles within them, looked down "Zetsu, you're back." he then narrowed his eyes "Although not unharmed."

The upper part of the plant opened, revealing the head of a man half white and half black with green hair, yet the various figures at the tips of the fingers noticed that a part of the "jaws" of the plant had been severed sharply. Zetsu looked at everyone before focusing on the one who had spoken last.

"That Naruto noticed us even before we could get out of the ground!" said the white part with a scared voice.

"**Yeah, if it were not for our technique we would have died at that moment!**" growled the other part even without a mouth "**Also, he didn't even use a bit of chakra to cut a tree from a distance!**"

"Oooh? So he's a swordsman now?" grinned a tall figure with something on his back that looked like a huge sword.

"Apparently yes. But apart from his direct attack on us we have seen nothing else."

"**He simply went there to talk to a small family and then he left. His partner instead spent all her time in front of two graves.**"

The only figure who was a woman looked at her right "What do you think, Pain?"

"We'll leave him alone for the moment." said the now named Pain looking at the others "If what Sasori told us is reliable, he will eliminate the Yondaime Hokage and all those who have been brought back to life by his technique. If all goes well, we will be able to overcome both the Hokage and his son at the end of their fight, when they are both weak and fatigued. That way we can extract the Kyuubi from Minato Namikaze's body and also from his son's, if it is still present."

"And the other Bijuu?" asked Sasori looking at their leader.

"Kakuzu and Hidan should now be near Taki to capture the Nanabi's Jinchuuriki." he looked at the named pair, both men nodded at him although he ignored the comments on money and religion on their part "We have already extracted the Sanbi, the Yonbi and the Rokubi, once the Nanabi has been extracted, we will pass to the Ichibi. Sasori, Deidara, this task is for you. Don't disappoint me."

"Yes, Leader." both men nodded before disappearing like everyone else. In the end, only Pain, Konan, Zetsu and two other persons, who were physically present, remained. The leader of the group turned to these two persons that had been silent all the time while standing near the point where Zetsu had emerged from the ground "As for you, I want you to go with Zetsu to the Land of Demons and find out something about the demon sealed by the Yondaime Hokage years ago. It could come in handy."

A sinister smile was the only thing visible in the darkness of the cave "As you wish, Leader."

Several kilometers from that cave, Kisame Hoshigaki opened his eyes before standing up and turning to his partner with a grin on his face "It seems we have nothing to do for the moment. Any idea, _Madara Uchiha_?"

A single Sharingan looked at him from behind an orange spiral mask "We will continue to move and seek information about the return of Naruto, and if we meet someone from Konoha, we will kill them. If what Sasori said is true, now Minato can no longer use his jutsu." he then narrowed his lone eye "And stop calling me that way."

Kisame grinned again "Whatever you say, _Madara_."

Tobi, a.k.a. Obito Uchiha, sighed heavily. In the last few years his life had deteriorated, more than usual. Eight years ago, when he learned of the imminent execution of Naruto, he had thought of going to Konoha and saving the young ninja and then extracting the Kyuubi from his body. However, he failed because someone had added seals around Konoha that prevented him from using the powers of his Sharingan. Only later did he discover that they were seals prepared by Minato and Kushina during their absence.

His plan to seal all the Bijuu inside the Gedo Mazo seemed impossible to complete, but Minato had revealed to everyone of the part of Kyuubi sealed inside him, along with a lot of other bad news. Obito had cursed his former sensei for days and days and unfortunately he realized too late of Itachi's intentions, who then returned to Konoha before Obito or anyone else could stop him.

Forced to take the field, Obito had become Kisame's partner who already knew several things about him for several years and never stopped calling him Madara to tease him. Another reason to curse Minato, his existence and his jutsu.

At first, Obito had thought that this technique could lead to peace in the world, but then he reflected on it and understood that, a jutsu based on the powers of the Shinigami, was not a technique suitable for the perfect world that would be born of his plan, or at least from the plan of the real Madara Uchiha. He had therefore ordered Pain to go on with the hunt for Bijuu, but he had noticed that Nagato, the puppeteer behind the Akatsuki leader, no longer seemed focused on his task.

'_He's probably still thinking about getting back together with his damn clan._' thought Obito with a frown '_But if he cares about his life, he won't make stupid moves, not now that we're so close to getting the fourth Bijuu._'

Deciding to think of something more productive, Obito marched with Kisame to his side, heading towards Iwa to check for any defenses set to protect the Gobi's Jinchuuriki.

* * *

**[Konoha]**

Slight steps were heard in the corridor of the Hyuuga's compound as Hinata advanced towards a particular room. Stopping in front of it, she started to ask permission to enter, but a calm female voice preceded her "You can enter Hinata, no need to ask."

Smiling, the young kunoichi opened the sliding door and immediately saw a woman sitting on the porch, watching a flowering tree. She was wearing a fine turquoise kimono and had long purple hair that fell down her back. Without saying anything, Hinata went to sit by her side.

"What can I do for you, my daughter?" asked Hitomi Hyuuga looking at her with a kind smile.

"I...I wanted to talk about something." said Hinata, without the courage to look at her mother.

"It's about Naruto, isn't it?" Hitomi saw her daughter flinch at her words "I can understand. From the way you talked about him over the past few years it must have been a shock to see him in that way."

Hinata nodded slowly "I...I...I should have told him what I felt for him eight years ago...and now...now he's back but he has to do something horrible..." she trembled slightly "I talked to others. Some are training to stop him, others don't know what to do..."

Hitomi smiled again at her "I'm sure they'll give each other strength and courage, but that's not why you came here, isn't it?" she placed one hand over Hinata's "You're scared of what's going to happen when he comes."

Slowly, Hinata turned to look at her with tears in her eyes before hugging her mother as if her life depended on it "I don't want to lose you! I know the Hokage and the others will do anything to stop Naruto, but what will happen if they fail? I don't want to lose you, not again!"

Hitomi returned the embrace without losing her smile and gently stroked her daughter's hair "If that happens, I will have no regrets, because I had the opportunity to see what an incredible woman you have become in my absence. Nothing is eternal in this world, my dear. Even if Minato continues to use his techniques to make us live forever, in the end they would only be empty and meaningless lives." Hinata started crying silently in her arms "Nothing is certain, it is also possible that Naruto changes his mind and that everything settles down. Don't lose hope, okay? That is the first step towards ruin."

Hinata nodded but continued to cry in her mother's lap until she fell asleep. After a few hours, when the sun had already set behind the horizon, Hitomi looked up at the flowering tree and saw a petal falling on her hand before being carried away by the wind.

Still stroking her daughter's hair, Hitomi sighed gently but then her gaze became firm and strong.

'_Only six days left._'

* * *

**[The following day – Taki]**

"You still like to risk, eh Naruto?" asked a smiling Shibuki, looking at the two figures sitting on the other side of his desk.

"Let's say I didn't lose the touch." replied Naruto with a small smile. Determined not to be seen by any spies of Konoha, Naruto and Haku had used their Shumpo to appear in Shibuki's office after finding that he was alone, scaring the young leader of Taki. Let's just say that his old friend was happy to see him again, except for the heart attack.

"I can see that." nodded Shibuki before looking at Haku "She's your comrade?"

"Yes, she has been for several years." Naruto answered with his usual calm voice before asking "I imagine you have already received news from Konoha."

"If you're referring to what you did during the festival last night in Konoha...then yes." Shibuki looked back at him "A message from the Hokage arrived yesterday thanks to a special seal used to exchange information quickly. Knowing what happened thanks to that message, I guess you are here to do the same thing."

"Only if there are people brought back to life, Shibuki. I have no intention of killing people who have nothing to do with this." said Naruto with a strong glare directed at his old friend who, after a few seconds, smiled at him.

"Than you've nothing to worry about, Naruto." Shibuki looked out a window "Your father came here eight years ago to help us, giving us some seals and other things to improve the village. We accepted those gifts, but I categorically refused to use his jutsu."

Naruto raised an eyebrow "May I know why?"

"My father once told me...that the strength of a village can be seen even when the new generations exceed the old ones." said Shibuki with a fond smile "If I had decided to revive those who died for the village, I would have in a sense muddied their spirit and damaged the growth of the village. I intend to bring back Taki one of the strongest hidden villages, without the help of those who are no longer there."

"You are young, but at the same time you have the wisdom of an experienced leader." Haku told him with a smile on her face "I'm sure your village will still grow under your guidance."

"Thank you." Shibuki bowed toward her before asking "Now would you like to-?!" but his words were interrupted by a slight tremor of the building along with a strong demonic pressure that was perceived by the whole village.

"Naruto..." said Haku looking at the blond swordsman "This kind of presence..."

"Yes, a Jinchuuriki..." replied Naruto with a nod before looking at his friend "Was it expected that the Jinchuuriki of this village would train with this power today?"

"No, Fū never trains with the chakra of her Bijuu because she knows that the village would hate her even more..." said Shibuki with a shamed look "Even after all this years..."

"Then we may have a problem. You stay here, me and Haku are going to check what's going on." and with those words, Naruto and Haku disappeared with a Shumpo, leaving a worried leader behind.

The two former Captains of the Gotei 13 reappeared a few miles away on the edge of what appeared to be a war zone. Several trees had been felled or burned, while the ground was covered with craters, shuriken and kunai. Looking around, they saw nearby two men in black cloaks with red clouds as decorations intent on walking towards a green-haired girl on the ground in a puddle of blood.

"I told you to finish her fast, Hidan. She has managed to transform and use the Bijuu chakra." said Kakuzu with a low tone of voice "Grab her and then we can go away from this place."

"Shut the fuck up, Kakuzu!" growled Hidan while removing a black spear that was piercing his lower abdomen "The ritual must be prepared with care otherwise the sacrifice for Jashin-sama has no meaning!"

Naruto watched them with cold eyes before covering the entire area with his spiritual pressure, freezing the two Akatsuki members on the spot. Slowly, Kakuzu and Hidan turned towards him, being shocked to see him there a few meters away from them along with Haku, who didn't seem at all disturbed by the surrounding pressure.

"So you two are part of Akatsuki." said Naruto with a grave voice, thinking back at when he had 'fought' against Kisame and Itachi during the mission to bring Tsunade back to Konoha "I had actually wondered what had happened to you in the last few years, but I see that Minato failed to eliminate you despite his 'power'."

"Oi who the fuck are you?!" shouted Hidan glaring at him.

"Shut up, Hidan." hissed Kakuzu despite the overwhelming pressure "He's Naruto Uzumaki, the son of the Yondaime Hokage."

"Really?!" Hidan grinned like a madman "He'll be a perfect sacrifice for Jashin-sama!"

"They seem to be strong enough to resist your reiatsu." said Haku with a calm voice before disappearing with a Shumpo, and reappear one second later with Fū in her arms, shocking both members of Akatsuki.

"Hey bitch! That's our prey!" screamed Hidan with a furious glare but Haku ignored him, preferring to use her powers to heal the young girl who could barely open an eye.

"W-Who...?!"

"Don't speak, you're still weak." said Haku with a smile before looking at Naruto "I know our mission is not about living people but..."

Naruto nodded but a grin was on his face "Don't worry, it seems that for the moment we won't have any problem, given that both have an aura that is similar, but at the same time different, from that of the people brought back to life."

Haku arched an eyebrow before using the special eyes that the Shinigami had given to them "So it seems...I think both of them have somehow cheated death by continuing to live."

"In that case..." Naruto lifted his spiritual pressure before drawing his sword, already wrapped in flames, and slashing down before him. The whole area in front of him was devoured by the flames of his katana in a few moments but Naruto immediately dispersed them without blinking, then moving his gaze to the right.

"Excellent dodge." he said while looking at the two members of Akatsuki who were now on guard against him "I think that with you two maybe I can see how much power I have regained compared to my last moments as Captain-Commander."

"What the hell are you talking about, fucking brat?!" shouted Hidan pointing at him with his scythe.

"Yare yare...it seems that you will be the first child I will have to punish." said Naruto before pointing a finger toward Kakuzu "Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō!"

Kakuzu barely had time to see a flash of yellow light before finding himself completely immobilized by what looked like six beams of light stuck around his body, at belly level "W-What the hell is this?!"

"Just a way to keep you still while I take care of your friend." explained Naruto before looking at Hidan who didn't wait a single moment before throwing himself at the blonde swordsman, bringing his scythe down onto him, however Naruto simply took a side step, avoiding the three blades that stuck into the ground.

"Your attacks are too linear and predictable." said Naruto without looking at Hidan before hitting him with the back of his left hand, slamming the missing nin against a tree several meters away.

"Fuck you!" Hidan threw his weapon before using the rope connected to it to change its direction, trying to hit Naruto from the right side, but the blond simply raised one hand and grabbed a blade with two fingers, blocking the whole weapon. Growling, Hidan tried to pull the weapon towards himself but realized that Naruto was much stronger than him, and he wasn't even sweating to hold back his weapon.

"You are barely a baby in the use of your weapon." said Naruto with bored eyes "That kid from the Ninth Division could give you some lessons in kusarigamajutsu." Hidan ignored his words preferring to swear at everyone and everything but Naruto simply sighed, before hurling the scythe at the Jashin's monk, piercing his chest and blocking him against the tree behind him.

"You fucker..." growled Hidan slightly surprising Naruto and Haku "That fucking hurts!"

"Ooh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow "You're still alive even after that?"

"He's...immortal..." whispered Fū catching their attention "He can'...die..."

"We'll see about that." said Naruto looking back at Hidan who was removing the weapon from his body.

"Fucking brat! I'll kill you and offer your blood to Jashin-sama!" screamed Hidan before running toward him, but Naruto appeared in front of him before punching the man in the chest, sending him through several trees and boulders.

"Are you just a monster who can think of nothing but killing people?" asked Naruto with only one eye open before blocking a black spear with his katana, cutting it in two just when Hidan appeared from above, trying again to it Naruto with his scythe "How pitiful."

With his free hand, Naruto grabbed Hidan's head before slamming him against the ground, creating a crater on impact and destroying most of his enemy's bones. Sheathing the sword, he turned to go back to Haku when he felt movement behind him and, without looking, he understood that Hidan was rising again.

"Good grief. Why don't you give up? It's just depressing to keep attacking a pitiful beast like yourself."

"You...fucking...bastard...!" Hidan managed to jump high before attempting once again to hit Naruto using all the strength he still possessed.

"Do you not understand the world 'stop'?" the man screamed before falling down on him "You brat!"

With imperceptible speed, Naruto drew his sword again and a vortex of fire enveloped Hidan. It lasted only a few seconds, but in the end not even the ashes of the missing nin remained, shocking Fū and Kakuzu who were watching the 'fight'.

'_What the hell is he?!_' thought Kakuzu looking at the spot where his partner had just died '_Hidan wasn't the strongest member of Akatsuki, but he was still a formidable opponent for many...however that boy defeated him as if he were a genin just out of the academy..._'

"Now..." his attention shifted toward Naruto who was speaking right at him "I think it's your time."

The rays of light that blocked Kakuzu dispersed into the air, allowing it to move again, yet the former ninja of Taki remained still, without trying to attack Naruto.

'_I can't fight against him...maybe Leader could hope to win in a battle with this monster._' thought Kakuzu while Naruto simply placed his katana on the ground before removing the upper half of his kimono and his haori, revealing a muscular physique that would have impressed anyone '_Does he want to face me in hand-to-hand combat? I will have to use one or two masks to distract him so that I can escape._'

"What? You do not want to attack first?" asked Naruto appearing in front of the missing nin with a Shumpo "Then, I'll take the lead." and before Kakuzu could try to defend himself, Naruto hit him with two twin fists in the chest "Sōkotsu!"

The pain that Kakuzu felt at that moment was unimaginable. His coat seemed to explode behind him and four masks flew out of his body before shattering along with a large amount of strange grey tendrils. The next instant, Kakuzu's entire chest exploded along with the rest of his body, sending parts of skin and organs in all directions along with a large amount of those tendrils.

Kakuzu, former ninja of Taki, one of the oldest ninja left alive and also one of the few to have survived a fight with Hashirama Senju, had just been killed with one shot.

'_A-Amazing..._' thought Fū with with eyes widened in shock '_He...he defeated two Akatsuki members without even being hit!_' now that he was closer to her, she could practically swim in the power coming out of his body '_Such power...such...such muscular body..._' that last thought earned her a chuckle from her Bijuu, making her blush.

"How is she?" asked Naruto while adjusting his kimono.

"She is stable but debilitated, it will take her a few days to get back to her full strength." replied Haku, who had discreetly looked at Naruto's body with Fū, with a smile "We have to take her to Shibuki, he can make her rest without any trouble."

Nodding at her, Naruto picked up his katana while Haku lifted Fū and they both vanished with a Shumpo, leaving behind the remains of Kakuzu's body.

When they reappeared in his office, Shibuki couldn't restrain a surprised scream before glaring at Naruto, but his irritation soon became concern when he saw the green-haired girl in Haku's arms.

"Fū!" he walked toward her while Haku placed the young kunoichi on a sofa inside the office "What happened?!"

"Two members of Akatsuki attacked her and were about to take her away when we arrived." explained Naruto "Those two won't bother you anymore."

Shibuki released a sigh of relief "Thanks, it means a lot to me."

"Don't worry about that." Naruto waved him off with one hand "I have the impression that sooner or later they would become my enemies, so I preferred to solve the problem as soon as possible. Moreover those two had an aura similar to that of the people brought back to life."

"I see." Shibuki nodded at him before looking down at Fū who was now sleeping peacefully "Naruto, can I you something?"

"What is it?"

"Could you take Fū with you?" Naruto and Haku looked at him with confused and surprised eyes "She is a good girl and strong kunoichi, but even after all these years, the villagers can't accept her among themselves and I'm sure my shinobi would rather sell her to the enemy than help her...that's why I would be more peaceful in knowing that she's by your side."

Naruto looked at him for a moment before shaking his head "I can't do that, Shibuki. Soon I will have to face practically the whole of Konoha and if they were to see Fū together with me they would think you had betrayed them. If you wish, I can find a place for her to live quietly without any discrimination."

Shibuki seemed to think about it before nodding "I understand, in that case I'll accept your offer. I just hope that she won't hate me for doing this."

"She won't be out of your reach." said Naruto with a smile "The Land of Waves is distant but not so much as to prevent you from going to see her."

The leader of Taki nodded with a smile and after some clarifications, he decided to invite them to dinner at his home, away from prying eyes and ears.

In the days to come, Naruto went to see Koyuki to greet her and talk to her about his task now that he had returned, while Haku had accompanied Fū to the home of Tazuna, where the Jinchuuriki was immediately accepted as part of the family, much to her joy.

And so a week passed.

* * *

**[Konoha's Outskirts]**

A light mist hovered in the air as the first rays of the sun illuminated the surrounding forest and the animals began to wake up.

In that almost surreal air, Naruto appeared in the middle of a clearing and looked ahead, where those who had decided to accept his offer should have waited for him. Despite all his predictions, he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, this is a surprise."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

* * *

**And here we are! Fifth chapter for this fic! A brand new chapter if I may! You must know that, reading the original version of this fic, I realized how much it sucked and how hasty it was! This chapter covering the week of waiting was not even there, I decided to add it so as to clear up some doubts (like what happened to Sasuke, etc.) and to set in motion some things (Akatsuki for example)!**

**I know the title of the chapter seems a bit stupid but nothing else came to mind! By the way, for those who like Fū, don't worry, you'll see her again in the future!**

**Now, time for some reviews!**

**Reft: yes, Naruto was Hashirama's reincarnation, but Minato's jutsu creates "clones" for the soul so he can resurrect Hashirama too.**

**RARE2000: he's mostly Yamamoto, however the memories of Naruto are equally important for him, that's why sometimes he's more Naruto-like, however in the end he'll remain mostly Yamamoto-like.**

**See you around!**


	6. Flames in the Desert

"Is this report accurate?" asked Pain staring down at the form of Zetsu.

"Yes! Of course! We could never lie about something like that!" said the white half of Zetsu with a scared and worried voice.

"**We only recovered Kakuzu's ring from what's left of his body, even that thing inside him is dead!**" added the black part with an angry voice "**There was no sign of Hidan, but much of the battlefield was completely burned!**"

"And from what some ninja from Taki have said, their Jinchuuriki has disappeared!"

"**Even though they claimed to have felt the chakra of the Bijuu for a while.**"

Konan looked from them to the orange-haired man "Pain, this is undoubtedly the work of the son of the Yondaime Hokage."

"Yes, there is no doubt. According to our reports, the Jinchuuriki of the Nanabi wasn't able to control the power of the Bijuu, therefore Hidan and Kakuzu should have easily defeated her." he narrowed his eyes "But apparently Naruto Uzumaki has discovered and eliminated them."

"What shall we do now?" asked the woman with a calm voice.

"**We should converge on him and eliminate him! He cost us two members!**" growled Zetsu but Pain shook his head.

"No, if we were to attack him all together, it's possible that he would be able to eliminate some of us, and this would slow down my plan further." said their leader before looking at the rain outside "Zetsu, I want you to discover the Nanabi's Jinchuuriki position. Once identified, let me know immediately, I'll go and capture it myself."

Zetsu nodded before disappearing into the ground as Pain went out on the tongue of a large statue, going to sit on the tip. Konan watched him for a few seconds before turning back and leaving the room.

'_I wonder...will you be able to defeat a God like me, Naruto Uzumaki?_' thought Pain looking up at the sky '_You will inevitably clash with our clan and then we'll see __if you can stay true to your justice__._'

**§ - § - § - § - §**

**FLAMES OF DUTY**

**Chapter Six: Flames in the Desert**

**§ - § - § - § - §**

**[Konoha]**

"Well, this is a surprise." said Naruto looking at the people standing in front of him. His most probable prediction had been that of not finding even one person waiting for him, and instead he was pleasantly surprised to see about a hundred people gathered in that clearing. Obviously it was a small number compared to the number of people brought back to life by Minato, but it was still a start. From what he could see and perceive, they were all civilians, no ninja among them.

Taking a few steps forward, Naruto looked at the various people gathered and noticed some familiar faces. He didn't know any of those people personally, but he was sure he had seen them during his life as Naruto Uzumaki.

'_If I were to venture a hypothesis, I would say that those people died during the invasion of Konoha during the chūnin exams._' thought the former Captain-Commander with calm eyes before stopping when a woman with long purple hair approached him and Naruto immediately noticed her particular eyes '_Byakugan...curious, I didn't expect to find a member of that clan here._'

"Greeting, Uzumaki Naruto." said the woman, bowing before him "My name is Hitomi Hyuuga and you can think of me as the...representative of this small group."

Naruto nodded at her before asking "Is this all your doing?"

A sad smile formed on her lips "No, simply when we met here, they decided to elect me as a spokesperson given my status in the village." she then took on a more serious expression "May I ask you a few question...?"

The former Captain-Commander remained silent for a few seconds but then nodded.

"There are many children who were born in the last eight years...from people brought back to life by Minato. Are you going to kill them too...?" asked Hitomi and several people looked at him with worried eyes, but Naruto shook his head.

"No, all those born in the last eight years don't fit into my task. Their parents will be purified and eliminated, but no physical damage will be caused to the new generation, independently of their parents." said Naruto with a calm but firm voice "And before you can ask, I don't intend to spare any of the people brought back to life. Mine is too important a task to be left unfinished. Obviously I would prefer that everyone behaved like you, but you can't always get everything."

"I see..." Hitomi looked at the ground for a moment before showing him a sad smile "In that case...I have no other questions."

Naruto followed her with his eyes as she returned among the group of civilians but then decided to start his task "Form a line and come to me, you will be purified one by one."

As requested, they formed a line and the first of them, a middle-aged man, approached Naruto, who drew his sword, frightening and intimidating many of those present.

"Fear not." said Naruto "I don't intend to use my blade, but the hilt. Although you are living people, your presence is the same as a Plus, so this method should work with you too." and without saying anything else, he touched the man's forehead with the tip of the hilt. A sign shone on his forehead and, under the bewildered eyes of those present, his body was covered with cracks before dissolving in the air. While they could only see that, Naruto saw the soul of man vanish along with the body, giving him confirmation that his Konsō had been successful.

In all honesty, he was not certain that those souls would have gone into the Soul Society, having been artificially created by the technique of Minato, but preferred to carry out his task in that way rather than exterminating all those who had been brought back to life.

One by one, the various people gathered were purified by Naruto until the last one was left.

Naruto looked at Hitomi with calm eyes "You have something to say, isn't it?"

Hitomi merely looked at him, showing again a sad smile "Years ago we never got to meet in person, even though I would have loved it. You probably don't know, but I'm Hinata's mother." if Naruto was surprised, he didn't show it "Since I was brought back to life, she told me a lot about you, how you helped her against those bullies when you were kids and how you inspired her to never give up. For that, I want to thank you."

The former Captain-Commander sighed "Are you going to ask me to spare your daughter?"

Those words seemed to surprise Hitomi slightly "You knew?"

"Yes. Let's say my eyes helped me find out about her. Among the various members of Konoha 13, as they are called, seven of them have been brought back to life. Sasuke in the first place, since I killed him eight years ago." Naruto paused briefly, thinking about how Minato had practically forced him to kill his teammate "The others are your daughter and her two teammates plus the whole Team Ten."

Hitomi could only nod, clutching her right hand with the left one.

"May I know how they died?"

The woman took a deep breath to check her heartbeat, but when she managed to speak, Naruto heard the fear in her voice "Four years ago, she was on a mission with Kiba and Shino. They had all been promoted to chūnin, so they were sent on a mission alone, after all it was a simple C-Rank mission." she paused, taking another deep breath "However they met a group of missing nin that aimed at Hinata's Byakugan...she and her friends managed to defeat most of their enemies, but then two...monsters appeared." she looked at him, with pure hatred in her eyes "Sasori of the Red Sand and Deidara the Mad Bomber, two members of Akatsuki, attacked Hinata, her friends and the remaining missing nin...they killed all of them and Sasori, that monster, he...he...he took the bodies of my child and her comrades. Despite the number of ninjas in the village, it was never possible to find Sasori to confirm my fears, but I am sure that that monster turned Hinata's body into a puppet."

Naruto remained silent, listening to the story of the woman in front of him but then he raised an eyebrow when he saw her kneel and place her forehead against the ground. If another Hyuuga had seen her now, they would have had a heart attack after seeing the clan-head's wife bowing like that to an enemy.

"So, please...at least save Hinata's life. She is a young and kind girl, she has a pure soul. She doesn't deserve to die again because of mistakes made by someone else. I beg you, save her."

Moments of silence followed her words and she didn't dare raise her head to look Naruto in the eyes, however when the boy said "I'm sorry." her heart skipped a beat.

"This is a vitally important task assigned to me by the Soul King. The whole balance of the circle of rebirth depends on my actions and I will not disobey orders. I'm sorry, but your daughter will also have to be eliminated as well as the rest of her team."

With her head still bent against the ground, Hitomi held back a sob "I see..." before disappearing in a burst of speed, canceling the distance between her and Naruto in a few moments. Her Byakugan was visibly active and her hand didn't hesitate a second in striking Naruto's chest at heart level.

However, her strike never reached the target.

Thanks to her Byakugan, Hitomi didn't even have to turn to see Haku's face peering at her as she gripped the wrist of her offending arm with a firm grip. After a few seconds of stalemate, Hitomi's raging face shattered like a mask and hot tears began to trickle down her cheeks as she fell to her knees. Naruto looked at Haku and nodded, causing her to let go of the woman who didn't try to hit him again, merely crying.

"I couldn't protect her throughout her childhood...and even now I can't do anything about it..."

"Fate has been mocking and unfair to you, but if it's any consolation, I promise you that Hinata will not suffer when her time comes." said Naruto raising his sword. Hitomi looked at him and nodded, not trusting her voice.

With a simple touch, her body and soul were also lost in the wind.

While Naruto sheathed his sword, Haku turned to a tree not far away "You can come out now." and a few moments later, Itachi Uchiha stepped out of his cover, approaching the couple, only to stop a few meters away.

"Naruto."

"Itachi."

Sasuke's older brother then looked at the woman at Naruto's side "You must be Haku, right?"

She raised an eyebrow, honestly surprised that Itachi knew her name "Yes, I am. I'm curious, how do you know my name?"

"When you appeared on the night of the festival, my brother said that your face seemed familiar to him and Sakura also claimed to have seen you somewhere. Eventually, they remembered you when you were their enemy during their first C-Rank mission and, going to re-read the Team Seven's report, your name came up along with Momochi Zabuza's." explained Itachi without missing a beat before adding "Obviously, by now, even the Hokage and everyone else knows about your identity."

Haku nodded, not at all disturbed by his last comment, but it was Naruto who asked the question they both had in mind "Why are you here, Itachi? You haven' been brought back to life and, although your life should have ended years ago, the aura that your body generates is not so bad that it is considered an anomaly."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at those words '_So he has a way of understanding who has been brought back to life? If I saw correctly, his eyes turned yellow and black for a moment. Is it possible that it is a Dōjutsu?_' and then decided to answer his question "If you are referring to my illness, Tsunade-sama managed to cure me also thanks to the intervention of the Uzumaki clan and their seals. As for my presence here, I wanted to know why you're doing all this." he then added "You probably already know that I was here from the beginning, so I heard what you said to Hitomi but what I want to know is why you're doing this to your village. You were born and raised here, Naruto. Your...previous life really matters so little to you?"

Naruto simply shook his head "You are intelligent even though you are a child, I cannot deny it, but at the same time you ignore things you could understand without even committing yourself." he looked at the sky for a moment "By now you should have realized that my powers are not normal and that they transcend those of a simple Jinchuuriki. Tell me, what do you think happens after death?"

Itachi remained silent for a few seconds, pondering his answer "Our soul becomes part of some cycle of rebirth? When you destroyed your father's stone face, you mentioned something like that."

Naruto nodded "There are many worlds other than this. All governed by the Soul King, the one I served for more than two thousand years." those last words seemed to surprise Itachi but the former Captain-Commander went ahead anyway "One of these worlds is the Soul Society and you could compare it to paradise, if you prefer. When someone dies, their soul reaches this place where the soul's rebirth process will take place. What Minato did was to break the balance that had come about after hundreds of thousands of years." he then stared at Itachi with cold eyes "As I said, I served the Soul King for many years and frankly, the thirteen hellish years I spent in this place can't even compete against the ones I lived in the Soul Society."

Itachi stared at him for a few seconds before asking "Therefore you are fulfilling your duty?"

"Yes."

"I see...so I guess you know that all the ninja of Konoha will try to stop you." and to make his point clear, Itachi activated his Sharingan in both eyes.

"You are all children for me." said Naruto, not at all impressed by his eyes "Although I wonder why no ninja showed up here. Minato ordered them not to come?"

"On the contrary, the King has publicly announced that no ninja or civilian will be stopped if they decided to come here this morning." said Itachi, surprising the former captains "However, no ninja has decided to accept your offer because everyone knows that if you succeed, Konoha would be weakened due to the large number of losses and the other villages would take advantage of it to attack."

"Mh, a valid point at least." Naruto rubbed his chin in thought "However, this will not prevent me from completing my task and among other things..." his spiritual pressure suddenly covered the entire area, making Itachi startle as he struggled to breathe, still managing to remain standing "I would advise you to deactivate your Sharingan and leave. You will not be one of my targets, but if you try to stop me I will not hesitate to eliminate you."

The pressure was then lifted and Naruto turned to leave but a noise associated with many of the ninja techniques could be heard behind him and, sighing, he looked back at Itachi, who now held a common katana, perhaps with the blade shorter than a standard sword.

"Didn't you hear me, brat?"

Itachi simply tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and Naruto, shaking his head, said a single word.

"Haku."

Itachi's eyes widened in shock and he barely had time to turn around and raise his weapon to parry Haku's slash, which stared at him with neutral eyes holding her sword with one hand. Without giving him any respite, she began to attack him with rapid strikes and from different directions, but Itachi was able to block them all thanks to his Sharingan, almost managing to counterattack, but each time Haku simply moved herself behind him with incredible speed before resuming at attack relentlessly.

"Excellent reflexes." said Haku without stopping "Your Sharingan is certainly a big help, but I notice that you have a talent for this kind of fighting."

Itachi succeeded in blocking yet another blow before finding himself in a deadlock and at that moment, Haku saw his eyes change from a simple Sharingan to a kind of shuriken with six curved blades, three of which were black while the others were red.

"Thank you, but it's time to end this fight." said Itachi before looking into her eyes "Tsukuyomi!"

* * *

**[Tsukuyomi World]**

_Haku looked around, noting that she was in a dark forest and that the sky was completely red because of the crimson moon._

"_This is the world created by the power of Tsukuyomi. Having obtained the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, I now have more control skills, and for the next seventy-two hours, you will be a victim of this world." said the voice of Itachi and an instant later, Haku found herself in an ice mirror before being filled with a feeling of anxiety and fear._

_Looking ahead, she was shocked to see a young Naruto, kneeling in front of Sasuke's body, completely pervaded by a dense red and orange chakra._

_'This is...'_

"_I'LL KILL YOU!"_

_Before she could react, Naruto lashed at her, punching her in the face and throwing her several meters away. Haku staggered to her feet, noticing only then that she had the body of a young girl again, and felt the mask on her face begin to shatter._

_And at that moment she heard the sound again._

_Birds._

_Thousands of birds chirping at the same time._

_'Zabuza...!'_

_She didn't wait, she acted._

_Almost instinctively, she stepped back to enter an ice mirror and, as she stepped out, Kakashi pierced her chest with a hand filled with electricity. She vomited a large amount of blood, but did not die. Kakashi removed his hand from her chest and laid her down on the bridge while, with her eyes still open, she saw Zabuza run towards his death in the form of an army of mercenaries._

_Each stab, each broken bone, each attack. She felt them all on her body and finally, she saw Zabuza fall to the ground in a pool of blood after killing his target._

_She couldn't speak his name, let alone scream it. _

_She could only relive that scene, this time from Zabuza's point of view and then again from her own._

_Over and over._

_Without ever being able to change anything._

_For seventy-two hours straight._

* * *

**[Real World]**

Itachi stared unmoving at Haku, who had lowered her head after falling under the influence of Tsukuyomi, yet she hadn't stopped putting pressure with her blade. Itachi mentally counted up to three seconds, the estimated time to spend seventy-two hours in the world of Tsukuyomi.

'_Time is up, now she should at least fall to her knees in shock._' thought the Sharingan wielder but nevertheless, she did not fall to her knees, and instead raised her head.

Despite his strong control over his emotions and his experience, Itachi could only tremble in front of Haku's gaze, who was simply smiling at him, yet it seemed to him the most empty and terrifying smile he had ever seen. The bloodlust she started emanating from her body covered the entire area and Itachi found himself frozen in place.

Slowly, she raised her free hand and placed it on the blade of her katana "Drink, Kubikiribōchō!"

Only by instinct did Itachi cover his blade with a thick layer of chakra before Haku simply threw him away with a horizontal slash, causing him to crash into a tree at the edge of the clearing. The air was forced out of his lungs and, falling to the ground, Itachi immediately realized how his arms were completely numb.

'_Such power! She could be as strong as Tsunade!_' Itachi managed to raise his head to look at Haku's new blade '_Is that the famous __Kubikiribōchō? __I thought it was in the Land of Waves._' shaking his head, he noticed that Haku was still staring at him with that terrifying smile and slowly brought her sword close to her body '_She's as dangerous as Naruto, I can't even hope to stop her without using everything I have!_'

A large amount of orange chakra began to cover his body while what looked like a giant skeleton started to form behind him, just as Haku laid her free hand on her blade once again.

"BAN-!"

"Haku."

Everything seemed to stop with one word. Both Itachi and Haku stopped to look at Naruto, who had a piece of paper in his hand and, despite the pain he was feeling in that moment, Itachi recognized the seal on the paper.

'_That is a seal of alert...if someone puts their chakra into that seal, everyone who owns one will be alerted._' thought Itachi with narrowed eyes '_We believed that Naruto was no longer able to use his chakra, yet now I confirm it thanks to my eyes, and he seems to be able to use basic seals._'

Itachi had correctly deduced the current situation of Naruto who, during the past week, had decided to check if he was still able to use his chakra and the jutsu he had learned during his previous life. Moreover, thanks also to Gaara, he had learned the basics of Fūinjutsu, thus succeeding in creating some alert seals which he had then delivered to all his friends just in case.

"We need to go. Something must have happened to Gaara." said Naruto with a firm voice, before looking down at Itachi "This is the only time I will let you go, brat. I have something more important to think about and also because we attacked you, and not the other way around." and with that, he disappeared with a Shumpo.

Haku looked at Itachi for a long moment before returning her Zanpakutō to its basic form while that terrifying smile faded away from her face, leaving a serene expression.

"Next time, you won't be so lucky." and then she disappeared as well.

'_This is bad...she is practically at the level of a Kage and Naruto managed to stop her simply by saying her name._' thought Itachi while the skeleton dissolved behind him '_I need to...tell this...to the Hokage...before it's too late..._'

Itachi managed to get up with difficulty and then walked towards the village, hoping that whatever caught Naruto's attention would keep him occupied for as long as possible.

* * *

**[Suna]**

"What happened here?" asked Naruto with a firm voice, looking at Temari and then at the columns of smoke that rose from the village behind her.

"The Akatsuki attacked tonight, just before dawn! Gaara fought against one of them who used strange explosives but then he used all his chakra to protect the village from a powerful explosion and was then captured." explained Temari with a worried face "Kankuro was defeated by the other member and was poisoned but we don't have an antidote for him right now."

Naruto narrowed his eyes before asking "Has anyone seen where they went?"

"They went northwest. One of them created a sort of large, completely white bird and flew northwest." said one ninja pointing in said direction.

Naruto nodded before looking at Haku "Do you think you can help them with the injured?"

The former captain of the Fourth Division nodded with a smile "Yes, don't worry. I'll help those in need and then I'll join you." she then added "But if you could keep one of them alive...I would really appreciate it."

Those words sent a chill down Temari's back, but Naruto remained unperturbed and nodded before disappearing with a Shumpo while Haku looked at Gaara's sister.

"So, could you take me to the hospital? Every second counts after all."

* * *

**[Several miles away from Suna]**

"That went well, yeah." nodded Deidara with a grin while looking at the unconscious form of Gaara, who was being carried in the mouth of his clay bird.

"It took you too long." replied Sasori at his side "Zetsu told us that Hidan and Kakuzu died, so it will take even longer to seal the Ichibi."

"You don't really know when to relax, do you? We have captured the Jinchuuriki, now we just have to bring it to the base and the game is done, yeah." said Deidara while shaking his head.

"In that case I don't think it will bother you if I interfere with your plans."

Both Deidara and Sasori's eyes widened in shock before looking up, where the voice had come from, and they were stunned to see Naruto fly above them. The former Captain-Commander didn't hesitate for a moment before drawing his sword and cutting a wing of the clay creature, which began to fall towards the underlying desert, but both Deidara and Sasori managed to land successfully with a jump.

Naruto reappeared a few meters from them, but Deidara hurled some small white spiders at him that grew instantly before exploding once they were close to the blonde swordsman. The missing nin of Iwa grinned with satisfaction but after a few moments, the grin disappeared from his face when he saw Naruto still standing and perfectly unharmed.

"I would be grateful if you avoided ruining my haori, it is a very important object for me." said Naruto staring at them with a calm face, but both Akatsuki members knew he was ready to fight. The missing nin of Iwa shifted his gaze slightly to look at Gaara, still unconscious in the jaws of his creation, yet his gesture did not go unnoticed.

"Do not even think about it." said Naruto in a lapidary voice "Although my purpose is another, I will not let you kill Gaara." his eyes then turned yellow and black for a moment before pointing at Sasori "Even if you are in some way on the list of my targets. The aura surrounding your body is that of a corpse, yet you are still alive."

"I wonder why." said Sasori with a deep voice, not at all worried by the current situation "Deidara, retrieve the Jinchuuriki and take it to the lair. I'll take care of this nosy, he could turn out to be a very good puppet after all."

"Puppet?" repeated Naruto slowly narrowing his eyes "So you are..." his sentence was interrupted when, from the sandy ground, two large centipedes of clay sprouted up and wrapped him with their bodies.

Deidara grinned victoriously before running close to Gaara and raising a hand "Art is an explosion! Katsu!"

The two centipedes exploded raising a large cloud of sand and smoke and, having created another clay bird, Deidara took Gaara with him before flying to a forest on the horizon, leaving Sasori alone against Naruto. The aforesaid puppet-master brought out a large metallic tail that began to move slowly before attacking the figure barely visible in the smoke. He wasn't surprised when his attack failed and Naruto blocked the tip of the tail with two fingers, looking at him with unimpressed eyes.

"There are not many who could do what you just did." Sasori said trying to retract the tail but without success "Your physical strength is noteworthy."

Naruto was silent before he vanished with a Shumpo, reappearing next to Sasori. Before the missing nin of Suna could react, the former Captain-Commander punched him from above, destroying his head and most of the chest, yet what looked like a body was actually made of wood and metal and, from that fake body, jumped out a hooded figure that landed a few feet away.

"You destroyed my Hiruko, it was one of my favorites you know?" said Sasori before pulling down his hood, showing a young face. The two adversaries observed each other in silence for a few seconds but then the red-haired boy shook his head "I was thinking about which puppet to use to face you, but considering your strength...I decided that I will use them all." he took off the black robe that covered his body, revealing that he himself was actually a puppet "Including myself, of course!"

Without wasting any more time, he took a scroll from his back and after some rapid hand-seals, two small tubes came out of the palms of his hands. Pointing them towards Naruto, Sasori generated two flying waves of flames that burned the sand and swallowed the blonde swordsman instantly.

'_Obviously this won't be enough to stop him, but I need just a few seconds to prepare my performance!_' thought Sasori before taking the second scroll and unrolling it in front of him while opening a part of his chest with one hand.

At that moment, the flames around Naruto began to fade and the former Captain-Commander heard a long series of small explosions. Looking up, he raised an eyebrow at seeing more than a hundred puppets in red cloaks but then his attention returned to Sasori who took two small scrolls from his pants, showing them to him. On one of them there was the kanji for 'Third' and on the other the kanji for 'Eight'.

"Now, here are my last pieces, the ones I care about most." said Sasori with a smile before being swallowed by the white smoke of two explosions. In a few moments, five figures appeared from the smoke around Sasori and, while the first was a complete stranger to Naruto, being a dark-haired man with a black cloak, the other four were familiar to him.

"I guess you know most of them, but by education I want to introduce you to the Sandaime Kazekage and Konoha's Team Eight." said Sasori with that little smile still on his face while pointing at the black-haired man and then at the puppet-bodies of Kiba Inuzuka, his partner Akamaru, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuuga. He then put his hand on his right eye, while with his left hand he made a single seal and Hinata's eyes instantly changed, a sign that he had activated her Byakugan, even though the veins on the sides of the eyes were not visible.

When he lowered his hand, Sasori's eye was closed and there was the kanji for 'Eye' visible on his eyelid "It took me several months, but I managed to gain a good amount of control over the famous Byakugan of the Hyuuga clan and now I can see what my puppet sees." he then created chakra strings from the point of his fingers, linking them to his new five puppets "So, Naruto Uzumaki, are you ready for a little show?"

Throughout his explanation, Naruto had slightly lowered his head and his hair had casted a shadow over his eyes, but that didn't stop him from igniting his sword and Kurama could clearly sense his intentions. On the other hand, Sasori had secretly activated the fourth scroll on his back, thus preparing a powerful water attack to counter Naruto's flames.

"My orders are absolute, so I will eliminate all those who have been brought back to life...but this doesn't mean that I am happy for every single life I'll take." said Naruto with a low voice before raising his head, showing pure fury in his eyes "However, I cannot accept that someone like you gets away with having desecrated their bodies in this way. At first I was determined to eliminate you quickly, brat, but it is clear that you deserve an exemplary punishment."

Slowly, he raised his flaming sword but when Sasori was ready to fight back, all those flames faded into nothingness, confusing him.

In the silence that followed, Naruto said a single word and, although he didn't know the meaning, Sasori felt a strong feeling of fear tightening his heart.

"**Bankai.**"

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

* * *

**And here we are! Sixth chapter done! How was it? Did you like it? Did it suck? Let me know it in the reviews and while we're at it, I'd like to thank everyone who is following this story! We are already over a thousand followers!**

**Now, I'd like to talk about those reviews that pointed out my mistake: yes, Naruto is not the reincarnation of Hashirama, my fault, but the concept in the end was the same and, before anyone asks: NO, Naruto is no longer the reincarnation of Ashura/Asura. His spirit no longer resides within Naruto.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and see you next time (sorry, no response to reviews this time, it will be for the next one!) even if I have the idea that, for every review like "Continue" or "Update", I will take an extra day of pause...it could be an idea!**

**See you around!**


	7. Unexpected Guests

"And there we go, all the poison has been removed from his body." said Haku with a smile while looking at the unconscious form of Kankuro "Now he needs rest but I think he will be back in full force within a couple of days."

"I...I see, thank you very much!" said Temari bowing toward her, while keeping a worried expression on her face. She was not only worried about her brothers (obviously that thought was at the top of her worries) but she was dumbfounded by the technique used by Haku to treat Kankuro and the other wounded.

'_That wasn't __Iryō Ninjutsu__, I'm sure about it. I wonder what it could be..._' her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a sudden heat wave that was felt by the whole village. Temari fell to her knees feeling her throat dry as well as the rest of her body '_W-What is this?! T-This heat is not normal!_'

Around her, everyone seemed to feel the effects of the sudden rise in temperature, except for Haku, who looked out of a window with calm eyes. Fortunately, the incessant heat only lasted for a few seconds and, much to everyone's confusion, the sunlight seemed to disappear slowly.

"What now...?" breathed Temari walking toward a window before gasping at the sight of the sky covered with black clouds "T-This is...?!"

A drop of water fell against the window glass, shocking her, and then another and another one. In a few moments, the whole village was covered by a heavy downpour, leaving everyone speechless, especially those who had never witnessed such a phenomenon. The rain lasted for a few minutes but was enough to cool the air and Temari continued to stare at the village with incredulous eyes.

"What happened...?"

"I think I know." said Haku surprising her "But to be sure, it's better to go. We'll be back with Gaara soon, don't worry." and with that, she disappeared in a Shumpo, leaving behind a decidedly confused Temari.

**§ - § - § - § - §**

**FLAMES OF DUTY**

**Chapter Seven: Unexpected Guests**

**§ - § - § - § - §**

**[With Naruto]**

Naruto sheathed his sword as the temperature slowly dropped. Around him, for miles and miles, the desert had become an expanse of glass and around him, that glass had even melted due to the temperature produced by his Bankai. His clothes, wet from the rain generated by the use of such powerful flames, were slowly drying thanks to the residual heat, but he didn't notice, simply looking at what was left of his opponent.

'_**I am glad that my powers haven't been weakened by the process of rebirth.**_' said Kurama in his usual deep voice '_**However I am surprised that there is something left of that ninja. His body was not made of flesh and blood but of wood and metal after all.**_'

His words were truthful, since only a partially melted metal skeleton remained of Sasori but Naruto, having already seen that material in the previous days, recognized the metal that made up the Sasori skeleton.

"Chakra metal."

'_**Chakra metal? Mh, that makes sense.**_' nodded Kurama '_**Although rare, that metal is able to resist the Bijuu chakra, which is extremely corrosive and destructive, so I think it is normal that it survived all that heat, albeit in part.**_'

Naruto looked around, noting that all the Sasori puppets had been destroyed in those few moments, even though there were some partially fused parts belonging to several puppets. Shaking his head, he closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated on locating his friend and the other Akatsuki member. When he opened his eyes, he could only sigh "I would have expected something more, but apparently the children of this world are not as fast as they think." and with those words, he disappeared with a Shumpo.

**[With Deidara]**

'_I must notify the others immediately._' thought Deidara with drops of sweat trickling down his face and worried expression. His clay bird was flying at maximum speed to reach their lair where the Ichibi should have been extracted from Gaara's body, but a few minutes after he separated from Sasori, the missing nin of Iwa had been hit by a wave of monstrous heat, well above the desert standards. It had lasted only a few seconds, but they had been enough for Deidara to understand that it had been released behind him and in his mind he had already given up his partner for dead.

'_That monster is well beyond our reach! Perhaps only Leader can face him and hope to defeat him, hell I don't think even that old man of Ōnoki could fight __against him__ and survive!_' the blond gritted his teeth but a wave of relief washed him when he saw the canyon where the entrance to their hiding place was. Once inside, he would activate all possible barriers to hide his presence.

When the missing nin was above the canyon, the clay bird swooped down but when it was at ground level, Deidara suddenly stopped it, turning pale in seeing what, or better to say, who was waiting for him.

There, sitting on a small stone in front of a giant boulder, there was Naruto with his sword pointed at the ground and both hands crossed on the tip of the hilt. His head was slightly bent forward, so Deidara could not see his eyes, yet he could feel the enormous power contained in the body of the former Captain-Commander.

'_Shit! How did he get here before me?!_' thought Deidara before noticing that Naruto had not yet reacted to his presence '_Maybe Sasori has tired him enough and since I haven't made any noise yet, maybe he didn't hear me. I can take advantage of it to kill him!_'

Without hesitating, he placed both hands in two special bags hanging from his waist and pulled out two large amounts of white clay. The mouths placed on the palms of his hands began to chew the clay before spitting out a dozen small birds. After a deep breath, he threw all the birds towards Naruto and his creations suddenly grew to become as big as the one he was standing on.

A grin formed on his face when his creations were now very close to Naruto and, with a single hand-seal, made them explode, generating a powerful explosion that shook the whole area. Without wishing to risk, he created other clay creatures and used them in the same way. For several seconds, powerful explosions were heard in the air as the missing nin of Iwa used all the clay supply and after a full minute he decided to interrupt the attack.

Unconsciously, Deidara held his breath when the smoke generated by his explosions began to clear and, when he saw the result of his attack, his heart lost a beat.

Naruto was completely unharmed, surrounded by a sort of cubic light barrier that became invisible after a few seconds.

'_What?! No damage at all?!_' he thought in a panic and, worst of all, Naruto hadn't moved at all, as if he hadn't even perceived his attack '_Is he mocking me?!_' but then, thanks to the special device mounted on his left eye, he noticed something: Naruto was moving even if imperceptibly. His head lowered by a few centimeters before returning to his initial position, only to fall again after a few seconds.

A large vein began to throb on Deidara's face '_He...he...HE'S SLEEPING?! Is he trying to ridicule me?! That's it! No matter how strong you are, I'll blow you up with my special C4!_'

However, at that very moment, Naruto woke up raising his head and his calm eyes met Deidara's furious ones for a moment "I see you have finally arrived."

"Fuck you! Are you trying to ridicule my art with your sleeping act?!" shouted the missing nin but Naruto didn't react to his words.

"It took you longer than expected."

Deidara gritted his teeth "I've been here for-!"

His speech was interrupted when his head was sent spinning into the air after being severed by a sword slash, courtesy of Haku who was standing behind him with a little smile.

"Forgive me, Naruto." said Haku with a little bow "Their attack had wounded more people than expected and I admit I stopped for a second to admire the result of your Bankai."

Naruto sighed before standing up "I see you've decided to use a move of Zabuza."

Haku nodded with the smile still on her face "Silent Killing is what made him famous during his years as a Kiri shinobi. Having all his memories, I decided to use this art of which he was a master."

"If I was only based on your chakra, I probably wouldn't have heard you coming." admitted Naruto before picking up Gaara "Let's go. When he gets better, I will talk to him about the expanse of glass he must destroy to recreate the desert. It shouldn't be difficult for him."

Haku giggled a bit "Or he could make you pay a fine for damaging the desert."

Naruto just snorted before disappearing with Haku using a Shumpo, leaving Deidara's corpse behind them, whose head still had an angry look on the face.

**[Konoha]**

Minato finished signing the last document before sighing and leaning against the back of his armchair. The situation in the last few days had been...stressful, so to speak. After Naruto had announced his intentions during the festival, the reactions of the various ninjas and citizens had been roughly predictable.

Most of the civilians had pleaded Minato to stop Naruto with every means available, a certain number had turned out to be undecided about this, and a small slice of this last group had decided to accept his son's proposal. Obviously Minato could have stopped them, but he didn't want to look like a tyrant who ordered others how to live their lives. He had brought them back to life and he would have done it again, if only he could, but if they wanted to end it like that, they were free to do it, same story for his shinobi.

Jiraiya's spies had reported that they had seen Naruto in other places, such as Taki and the Land of Waves, but had failed to find out why. Minato had then hypothesized that, being allies of Konoha when he was still alive, Naruto had wanted to check if there were people brought back to life even in those places.

Then, a week had passed since Naruto's return and about a hundred people had mysteriously disappeared, even though Minato already knew what had happened. Hiashi had entered his office with a worried look and told him that his wife, Hitomi, had disappeared and had taken a small amount of money with her. The Hokage had then received a detailed report from Itachi on what had happened and had therefore deduced that Hitomi had used that money to bribe the guards of a gate so that they didn't stop her or the others.

Minato had been particularly concerned about finding that Haku, whose identity had been confirmed by Itachi, had managed to fight on a par with the head of the Uchiha clan, and that Tsukuyomi had had no effect on her, except to make her angry. The appearance of her sword was also worrying but, after a quick check, it had been confirmed that the Kubikiribōchō was still in the Land of Waves and no one had moved it in the last years.

The only positive note was that, according to the leader of Taki, two members of the Akatsuki had died trying to capture the Jinchuuriki of his village.

The incredible heat wave perceived the day before, in the direction of Suna, was also worrying but Jiraiya's spies were still working on it so Minato would have to wait before he discovered anything.

"Hey kid! I have something about what happened to Suna!"

Or maybe not.

Turning quickly to his sensei who was entering through the window, Minato asked him what he had discovered.

"Apparently the other night, two members of the Akatsuki attacked the village to capture the Kazekage so as to be able to extract the Ichibi, and they also succeeded in the first part, leaving behind a good deal of wounded." said Jiraiya with a serious face "However, at dawn, Naruto and his partner arrived at Suna and while he went to save Gaara, Haku remained in the village and treated all the wounded very quickly, and we are talking about Tsunade-like speed."

"Therefore she is a skilled healer as we had expected." said Minato with his sensei nodding.

"According to that old report, she managed to heal Zabuza using only local herbs, which is no small feat if you ask an expert. If that Haku received a power up like Naruto, it is safe to assume that her medical skills are now equal to or greater than Tsunade's." said the Toad Sage before adding "My spies failed to find out what kind of technique he used, but the results were impeccable."

Minato nodded for a moment before asking "What about Naruto and the Kazekage?"

"After less than an hour from his departure, Naruto returned with Gaara and Haku, who joined him after treating all the wounded." sighed Jiraiya while shaking his head "Apparently now in the desert there is an area of several miles covered with glass, probably the point at which that heat wave came. Remains of molten skeletons made of chakra metal have also been found and it is very likely that Sasori of the Red Sand died in that place, although they have no news regarding his companion."

"I see..." the Yondaime Hokage rubbed his tired eyes with one hand "Your thoughts...?"

"Honestly? Naruto has done the world a favor if we are to be honest. Despite having Itachi on our side, we were not able to eliminate even one member of the Akatsuki and even knowing that their real base is in Ame, we couldn't discover anything new. Invading that village would involve a new war and, despite having a big advantage over the other villages, now that we can no longer count on the Shinigami we could be in trouble." said the Sannin "On the other hand, Naruto has potentially eliminated four of their members. If we count Sasori, his partner Deidara and the famous 'Zombie Brothers'."

"How do you know it was Naruto who eliminated those two?"

"Because in the place where they fought against the Jinchuuriki of Taki, there was a large area completely burned and, even though Kakuzu had the possibility of using Katon jutsu, it is something outside of his possibilities." Jiraiya told him "On the side note, I confirmed that Taki's Jinchuuriki is now in the Land of Waves."

"So she went there then...most likely Naruto helped her since he was a Jinchuuriki." said Minato with a sigh "How's the training going?"

"I would say well, Itachi has decided to join us and has already reached a good point. What about you and Kushina?"

"We are working day and night to create the most powerful seals possible and we have made a lot of progress starting from the ones I created to control the Shinigami." Minato then looked at a map hanging on the wall "Mito-sama left with some members of her clan for the Land of Whirlpools in the hope of finding something in their old archives."

"Good news, I'm sure they will find something useful." nodded Jiraiya when a toad suddenly appeared in front of him in an explosion of white smoke. The small amphibian gave him a scroll and then vanished after saying goodbye to the two toad summoners.

"News from your spies?" asked Minato with a raised eyebrow. In the past few years, all of Jiraiya's spies had received special seals where they could seal scrolls and send them instantly to Mount Myōboku, where the toads then took them to Jiraiya after making sure that the Sannin was not in a dangerous or important situation.

Jiraiya looked up from the scroll with a serious face "We know where Naruto is."

Minato looked at him with shocked eyes "Really?!"

"Yes, one of my spies saw him together with Haku as they passed through a small town in the Land of Tea."

The Hokage looked at him with a worried face "The Land of Tea...but...over there..."

"Yes..." Jiraiya nodded grimly "There were some of our ninja on a mission. I don't know how Naruto found them, but apparently he eliminated them all."

"Possibly thanks to the Dōjutsu that Itachi told us about...even if we don't know all the effects." the blond man sighed again.

"But now we know that even the special Henge-seals you created are not enough to deceive those eyes...and now we have lost eight ninjas, including three jonin." the Sannin sighed as well before asking one crucial question "What are you going to do?"

Minato looked at his desk for several seconds without saying a word, then moved a hand and pressed an intercom button "Please Yuki, contact Orochimaru and tell him to show up in my office with Kabuto and the Five Gates as soon as possible. Tell him it's extremely urgent."

"_At once, Hokage-sama._"

Jiraiya looked at him with confused eyes "You want to use them?"

"With our help Orochimaru has perfected his Cursed Seal. My idea is to send the Five Gates with Kabuto for cover in order to find out as much as possible about Naruto and in the hidden hope that they beat him...even better. But I need Orochimaru to know if the seals I intend to apply to them will create problems with his own Cursed Seal." explained Minato with a serious face "I will also follow their movements with the Tōmegane no Jutsu (Telescope Technique) in order to know when to teleport them here to Konoha so as to save them in an emergency."

His former sensei nodded before approaching the window "I'll go and call somebody else, better have more eyes to better understand Naruto's skills."

"Thank you." when he was alone, Minato looked at the lone picture of Naruto "I really wish there was a way to fix all of this..."

**[Several miles away from Kusa]**

Naruto and Haku were walking along a lonely road, intent on heading towards Kusa where Naruto had sensed the presence of some people brought back to life. Apparently, when he was still only Naruto Uzumaki, he could have become an excellent sensor and this ability was transmitted to his new body. Thanks to his experience with reiatsu, Naruto was therefore able to concentrate enough to be able to perceive the presence of people brought back to life, thanks to their extremely different aura which was similar to that of the Shinigami, even miles away.

However, at that moment he could perceive five of those people approaching him at great speed and, if he had deduced correctly, they came from Konoha.

"Haku." she looked at him "We've visitors."

A few seconds after he said those words, five people appeared in front of them several meters away and despite his calm, Naruto raised an eyebrow at seeing those familiar faces.

Orochimaru's bodyguards, whom he had met eight years ago during the mission to bring Sasuke back, were all present, including that albino who could fight with his bones. Compared to the last time he had seen them, they now wore clothes similar to those of Konoha ANBU albeit with some modifications, such as the absence of a mask.

"Well...this is a surprise." said Naruto with a calm voice while Haku was staring with surprised eyes at Kimimaro, having recognized him thanks to the memories of Zabuza "I hadn't imagined that Minato had brought you back to life, but I probably should have thought of it when I found out that Orochimaru returned to being a ninja from Konoha."

"We are Orochimaru-sama's bodyguards, the Five Gates. Our orders are to stop you here and now, before you can kill other ninjas of Konoha." said Kimimaro with usual emotionless voice.

Naruto merely tilted his head to the side "I'm pretty sure that last time you were the Sound Four."

"We changed our name, Shithead!" shouted Tayuya glaring at him.

"Oi Tayuya don't go and piss him off. You saw what he did to Konoha." said Kidomaru looking at her with worried eyes.

"I don't give a fuck about what he did!" replied the red-haired woman "He destroyed part of a mountain! Big deal! Over thirty people in the village can do the same thing!"

The others sighed resignedly while Kimimaro continued to observe Naruto with a calm but determined expression. The former Captain-Commander looked at him as well before bringing a hand to the hilt of his sword, with Haku doing the same.

"Since all of you have been brought back to life, I can't let you go." Naruto glanced at all of them with cold eyes "I hope you are ready to die again."

"We will not lose. Orochimaru-sama's name would be covered with shame by our defeat." said the leader of the group creating two long blades of bones from the palms of his hands.

"So be it." Naruto and Haku they drew their swords while the Five Gates prepared to attack, but at the last second both former Shinigami looked upwards with surprised eyes. Their opponents looked at them confused before Tayuya shouted "Hey where the fuck are you looking?! Do you want us to believe that there is something above us?! Are you fucking retarded?"

"Uh...Tayuya..." said Kidomaru looking up with a pale face.

"What? What's your fucking problem?!" growled Tayuya but then Sakon grabbed her face and forced her to look up. Her long list of insults and curses died in her throat when she saw a long black line forming completely out of nowhere in midair.

In a few moments, the sky itself around the line seemed to swell before opening.

The sky was literally opening up from that line up and down, showing a black abyss beyond that chasm.

Under the shocked looks of the Five Gates and the now serious ones of Naruto and Haku, a small group of people seemed to walk towards them and then stop at the edge of that gash in the sky.

Despite their complete shock, the five bodyguards of Orochimaru could distinctly hear the word that escaped from Naruto's lips.

"Arrancar."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**And here we are! Chapter Seven already done although, as you may have noticed, it is much shorter than the others but I had already decided in the past to finish it this way. At the very least, by doing so, the chapters will come out faster don't you think?**

**Now it's time to address several topics that came out in the last chapter and that will probably come out in this one too.**

**Naruto/Yamamoto's Bankai: Starting from the fastest thing, the Bankai will NOT suffer nerf of any kind. It will undergo a modification (since it is possible to modify the Bankai) but you will see it only at the end.**

**Secondly, many wanted to show me how Yamamoto would never use his Bankai against Sasori, while others said it was wasted on Sasori. To explain things a little from my point of view: Yamamoto is OP, we all agree on that, don't we? Now, since he is so OP why should I write the whole fic with him who uses his katana directly (without even using the Shikai) or his fists to slaughter everything and everyone? It would be monotonous, boring and more predictable than usual, like One Punch Man. For this reason, Naruto will not use his Bankai only against Minato but also against other people (and before you tell me he should not spam it, I warn you that, before Minato, you will see his Bankai again maybe two people, if not only one).**

**Now, for the "wouldn't use it" thing, I'd like to remind you of what he did when he met the Quincy who had stolen his lieutenant's Bankai. He was only sliiiiiiiiightly pissed off like a beast, obviously due also to the bond he had with his lieutenant. Now, he's ALSO Naruto so part of his personality is part of the package by now and Naruto cared about his friends. He's not so ignorant as to blame Kiba, Hinata, Shino etc...for what happened to him, so being that they were his friends, I think it's obvious he'd be pissed off seeing their bodies turned into puppets by someone.**

**Last thing, obviously I wasn't going to let you see the fight with Sasori. As many of you wanted to point out (even knowing it already) the Bankai of Naruto would have simply burned him instantly since he had no way of regenerating himself like a Quincy.**

**With the part on the Bankai closed, I would just like to specify that Haku was NOT fighting to her full strength, nor was Itachi during their battle. Obviously, in terms of basic strength, Itachi is inferior to Haku/Unohana for this he had to use his EMS. **

**And yes, Haku's Shikai is simply the Kubikiribōchō, with the same "power" of the canon sword and that is "use the iron in the blood of the victims to repair itself".**

**Last little things: Minato & co could not go to dig out the Akatsuki because they became more wary after Itachi left, besides Minato doesn't want a war and that's why he didn't invade Ame to fight the Akatsuki. The Five Gates is a name I decided not to use Sound Four, since they are now Konoha's ninja and, for those who were wondering, Oto became Konoha's ally but was not absorbed.**

**Well that's all! See you around!**


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